Jealousy
by Jenny70529
Summary: A sequel to Remorse. Catherine and Warrick experience the ups and downs of relationships, Greg wants Sara's friendship to be more than friendship, but Nick seems to be in the way. Team friendship.
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** I think you guys get the idea that I don't own them. In case you don't know, I can't even afford to stalk them. 

**Author's Notes:** Here's the sequel to "Remorse", and it takes place a few months in the future. You can expect: More Catherine and Warrick romance - the only reason I didn't put too much of that in 'Remorse' is because I didn't want it to be a couple-centered story, the building of Sara and Catherine's friendship as they continue to bond, Greg's pursuit of Sara, as well as Nick's, and Sara having to make a choice. You can also expect some friendly teasing, some witty banter, and a few dramatic turns. 

This wasn't actually what I planned for a sequel, but after hearing some of the people at work talking about some of the cases they've had recently, I couldn't help but run with them for story ideas. I was stuck in booking today, which I despise, and if I get stuck there tomorrow as well, Tim, the guy who's supposed to be working booking, will have more serious things to worry about than the stomach flu he's ailing with. 

Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think, as always. 

_Jenny_

**Jealousy:**

Sara strummed her fingers absentmindedly against the table, staring into her coffee cup, her thoughts millions of miles away from the conversation going on around her. 

"So then he backs up, all freaked out, I mean, we all were, we thought the guy was dead." Nick explained, laughing so hard that tears were coming from the corners of his eyes, "And he trips over his kit, sending the evidence bags he was holding everywhere, and lands on this guy's cat, who panics and scratches the hell out of him, and he's sitting on the floor, all scratched up, bags everywhere, fingerprinting powder everywhere, and that's the moment Gris decided to walk in." 

Catherine turned to eye Greg with horror, "Oh, tell me he's exaggerating." 

"No, he's not." Greg replied, his voice on edge, "And instead of checking to make sure the cat didn't, I don't know, nearly kill me, he starts lecturing me on professional behavior. If anyone was to blame, it was the stupid paramedic who said he was dead. How hard is it to check for a pulse and breathing?" 

"It was priceless." Nick said, wheezing with laughter as he patted Greg on the back, "We've all had our days, buddy, it just seems like today was all yours." 

"So you're telling me that a guy who was checked over by the paramedics who reported him going into cardiac arrest while they were assessing his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene just started moving by himself? I'm surprised Greg didn't wet himself." Warrick laughed, "How does that happen?" 

"Well, he wasn't pronounced dead, the coroner hadn't shown up yet, but they did check his vitals and assure us he was deceased." Greg said defensively, "But not 5 minutes later, he had a seizure. That paramedic should be fired, how can you miss the fact that a person's alive?" 

"Could you have imagined Grissom's face if Greg had peed himself?" Catherine laughed, "Talk about contaminating evidence." 

Nick grinned at Catherine, "It was priceless, really priceless, after we explained what was going on, I thought Grissom was going to kill that paramedic...went off on him about how not properly informing us could ruin some of the evidence, not to mention give his CSI's heart attacks." 

"Man, I wish I could have been there for that. You guys had all the fun with a home invasion, of all things, and all Warrick and I had were monumental headaches from all of the dead ends in our 419." Catherine sighed, "It's going to be unsolvable, I can feel it already. What lousy timing, we're about to do evaluations, and I wanted my solve rate to stay as high as I could make it." 

"Oh, evaluations already?" Warrick hissed, "Is it that time again already?" 

"Oh, great." Greg huffed, "I can see my evaluation now, that same lecture I got tonight, with added tidbits he thought of after he finished ripping me a new one. He's going to send me back to the lab, I just know it." 

Catherine rolled her eyes, "Greg, get over it. We all made mistakes when we were rookies." She smirked at Nick, "Some of us still do." She glanced back at Greg, saying reassuringly, "I wouldn't worry about it, you've been out in the field for, what, 10 months? He's not going to stick you back in DNA, if he was planning on it, he would have done it when I went back to field work. You're stuck on the team, buddy." 

"Speaking of DNA..." Warrick said, glancing at his watch, "I need to get back to the lab and push for our results. Any lead, no matter how weak it is, at this point, is a good lead. I guess I'll be working a double today." He gave Catherine a small kiss on the cheek, "You go home and get some rest. Give Lindsey my love." 

Warrick disappeared from the table, leaving the other 4 to get back to their breakfast and coffee. As he disappeared from sight, Nick stood up, "I'm going to go to the restroom and check on our orders, they should be done any minute now." 

"Be sure to wash your hands." Greg teased, taking a sip of his coffee, "I'm starving." 

"You're quiet this morning." Catherine said to Sara, who was still staring into her coffee cup, yet to take a sip, although the others were on their second and third cups. "Earth to Sara?" 

Sara looked up slowly, as if in a fog, "What did you say?" 

"You're being very quiet. You haven't said a word about Greg's crime scene mishaps, you're acting unusually placid." Catherine said, a twinge of worry in her voice, "You okay?" 

Sara nodded absentmindedly, using her spoon to stir the coffee in her cup, slipping back into her thoughts. After a few seconds, she could still feel Catherine's eyes on her, so she looked up, "Really, I'm alright." She glanced around the table, "Where's Warrick and Nick?" 

"Girl, you're off in your own little world, aren't you?" Catherine asked, covering Sara's hand with her own, "Tough case?" 

Sara nodded, blinking back tears, and quickly looking back down at her coffee cup. An awkward silence filled the table, while Greg and Catherine silently communicated to each other through their eyes, Greg breaking the silence, "So, what were you working on?" 

"A 14 year old girl and her mother were murdered, we're thinking the husband did it. They were shot from bullets out of his gun, but since the gun was in the house, it could have been anyone, really. Daughter was sexually abused, according to Doc Robbins, it's probably long term sexual abuse, and the semen came from the Dad. They're holding him, but all they can book him on right now is child molestation and incest." Sara said in a flat voice, not looking up from her cup, "We found pictures in his bedside table of 17 young girls, with fingerprints and dried semen, which we're pretty sure indicates he was molesting other kids as well. We're going to talk to the other girls tomorrow, we ID'ed them from Samanatha'sthe daughter'syearbook." 

Catherine's eyes lit up with anger. Grissom knew better than to stick Sara on a case like this, it was going to eat her up until she solved it, and probably long after. How many times had they all gone to him and expressed concern over her handling these types of cases. Sure, it was something Sara would have to learn to deal with and accept, but she could have been just as useful on the home invasion or the 419. Her voice was a lot harsher than she meant it to be when she asked, "And you were solo?" 

"I was originally doing backlogged paperwork, the call came in after you all had left, Grissom told me to just go ahead and work it, he'd get someone in to help me after one of the other cases had been solved." Sara replied, her voice detached as she continued to move her spoon in circular motions, "It's not a big deal." 

Catherine wanted to say 'Of course it's a big deal, just look at you!', but one stern look from Greg told her to back off. 

He spoke softly, taking the spoon from her hand, "Are you okay with this?" 

"I have to be, it's my job." Sara muttered, pushing the cup away, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath to steady herself, "You can stop hovering, I'm fine." 

"If you need to talk..." Catherine began, catching Sara's eye as the younger woman nodded, "Anytime, I mean it." 

"That goes double for me." Greg said with a wink, giving Sara a wide grin. She couldn't deny that having their support made her feel better, they had really made a difference in her life the last few months. She hadn't realized how much having social relationships outside of work helped level off the stress, as well as having a shoulder to cry on. And, she could say with the utmost certainty, Catherine and Greg were her two best friends. 

Nick made his way back to the table, a plate in each hand, and one balancing on each arm, "Breakfast, is served." 

"Grissom says this home invasion isn't priority enough to be cleared for overtime." Nick said while munching on his hamburger, "But I'm going to call him a few hours before shift starts to see if the sheriff's changed his mind. I'm thinking about paying our victim a visit at Desert Palm this evening, if I'm cleared." 

"Just see if Grissom will let you come in late to make up for it." Greg said with a shrug, "If it's not approved. Want me to come with you?" 

"I think you've been close enough to the body for now." Nick teased, earning a half-hearted glare from the newest CSI. "Your case was approved, Cath?" 

Catherine nodded, "Of course, our vic was a personal friend of the sheriff's, so that's probably why." 

"What about you, Sar?" Nick asked, "You've been staring at that cup for an hour now, what's so interesting?" 

Sara's head shot up, "We've been here an hour? I need to get back to the lab." She started to gather her jacket and purse, but stopped when Catherine grabbed her arm. 

"You didn't even touch your meal." Catherine said in a stern motherly voice, "And if I recall, you weren't approved for overtime either." 

Sara shook her head, throwing a 10 dollar bill down on the table, "I'm not really hungry anymore, and if I don't get paid for overtime, it's not a big loss. I can do it on my own time." 

She scurried out the door, leaving the 3 remaining CSI's wondering what was going to happen with their over-emotional friend. As the door slammed behind her, Nick rose to his feet, "I'm going to talk to her." 

Before Catherine or Greg could say anything, he had also disappeared. 

Nick caught up with Sara outside of the diner. She was leaning against her car, her hands pressed against her face, taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself. 

"Hey there, are you okay?" Nick asked, touching her arm gently, "Sar?" 

Sara shook head, trying not to break down in front of Nick, of all people. God, she hated working sexual assault cases. She took a few steadying breaths and removed her hands from her face, certain no tears were going to fall. "I'm going to be fine, it's just one of those cases, you know..." 

"Do you need some help? There's three of us working the home invasion, and I'm sure Grissom could spare Greg or me to help you out. You can't wear yourself out on this, Sara, it's not good for you." Nick said gently, still holding on to her arm, "We're worried about you." 

Sara turned away from him, wiping a tear angrily from her eye, "You don't need to worry about me. Sure, sometimes I get too involved, but this is not one of those times. I'm just doing what I need to do to get this solved and move on to the next case. Even with Greg out in the field, cases tend to stack up." 

"Well, just remember that we're here to help you if you need the help." Nick told her softly, rubbing her arms and pulling her into a hug, "If it gets too much to handle..." 

Sara nodded, turning to reciprocate the hug, "Thanks Nicky." 

From the window, Greg watched the scene with a mixture of anger and jealousy. Sara was his best friend, he should be out there hugging her and trying to reason with her. Looking down at his breakfast, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Sure, Sara was his best friend, but Nick was up there on top of the list as well, and Sara's wasn't his to be jealous over. Maybe, just maybe, he'd have to try and change that. 

In the lab, Warrick sat in the break room, his cell phone to his ear, "Yes, that's a reservation for Warrick Brown, for 7:30 tomorrow night. Could you please get a secluded booth, this is going to be a very special occasion." 

(TBC, if there's interest) 


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** They're never for sell on ebay. 

**Author's Notes:**

I've got a lot of questions about the direction of the story, whether it's going to be Nick/Sara, Greg/Sara...but to be honest, I'm not totally sure yet. I'm a Sara fan, a Greg fan, and a Nick fan (heck, I'm fans of them all) and I don't know what direction it's going to go. I hope you guys will bear with me until I do figure it out though! I was once told by a writer much more talented than I, that the stories have a way of writing themselves, which they definitely do, as I learned with "Remorse". 

I plan to have more tomorrow, I'm only scheduled 8 hours at work, then we've got a meeting to get our schedules for next rotation. Ahhh! I know I'm going to get stuck on Corrections (it's been over a year since I've been on that shift), and I don't want to! Too many hours, too many perverts, too many headaches. I'm hoping that I get Deputy/Patrol this rotation, because at least it's fun! Of course, when I'm working in the office or in the lab, all of the excitement happens out on the streets, and, of course, the last time I was out on the streets, we had a huge Meth bust and the excitement was all in the lab. I never get to be part of the excitement. 

Enough rambling, enjoy the story! Please let me know what you think, I've really enjoyed all of the response I've gotten! You guys are the best! Responsemotivationanother chapter soon! 

_Jenny_

**Two: **

Greg walked through the halls of the lab, enjoying the silence. It was obvious that the swing shift was out in the field on an otherwise quiet day. It was amazing what you could tell by just walking down the corridor, the different things you could pick up on. For example, it was clear that there hadn't been any new, extensive, cases for swing or day shift, because ballistics and DNA were working quietly, and no one was around the fingerprinting station. The hallways were silent and empty, instead of bustling with energy and shouts over employee's shoulders of last minute notes or instructions, as they would be on a fast-paced shift. 

He strolled into the locker room, stopping in his tracks when he saw Sara at her locker, wearing the same clothes she had been wearing at breakfast, dark circles under her eyes. He looked down at his watch, raising his eyebrows, they were only an hour from the start of their shift, and she hadn't gone home yet? Did Grissom know she was planning on working through another shift, or even two? Why hadn't he thought to drag her home before he went to bed? 

"Um, Sara? You're still here?" Greg asked, walking behind her and putting a hand on her back, "Are you sure you're up to working tonight?" 

Sara nodded, silent, and pulled out a fresh pair of jeans and a black, long sleeved shirt. She slipped her blue shirt off, replacing it with the black one from her locker, then turned to Greg, "Are you going to watch me change?" 

"Only if it will turn you on." Greg said with a smile, hoping to lighten her irritated mood a bit, "If you're into that sort of thing, anyway." 

Sara smiled at him, sleepily rubbing her eyes, "So telling you that I'm wearing a black thong would just entice you to stay longer, right?" 

"Are you really?" Greg asked, his face lighting up with excitement, "I've always wondered what type of underwear you wore." 

Sara's face blushed, and her jaw dropped open, 'That's none of your business! I can't believe you think about that sort of thing." 

"I can't help it, when I see a beautiful woman, I can't get her out of my mind." Greg knew he was pushing it now, it was just a matter of time before Sara told him to get lost and once that happened, he knew she'd be angry for the entire shift, possibly even the next one. 

Sara, to Greg's surprise, laughed, "Yet another lame pickup line, Greggo. You never cease to amaze me." 

"No, a lame pickup line would be 'So, how would you like it if I did an...internal investigation...of you, CSI Sidle?' I was trying to be suave." Greg laughed, turning away so she could change her pants, barely resisting the urge to turn around and catch a glimpse of her black thong. 

Sara rolled her eyes, "It's no wonder you don't have a girl, Greg." She sat down on the bench, indicating it was okay for him to turn around now, as she slipped on a fresh pair of socks and retied her tennis shoes, "You're here early." 

"So are you." Greg pointed out, "Well, actually, you're here late, but we won't go there." She whispered a quiet 'Thanks', and he continued, "Did you get anywhere on your case?" 

Sara nodded, tears filling her eyes. She took a deep breath and tried to fight them, mentally yelling at herself for showing her weaknesses, her lip quivering slightly. She closed her eyes, trying to steady her voice before speaking, "There was another child, a son, who died of poisoning 6 years ago. He had been sexually abused, but the day shift wasn't able to prove the father was molesting him or killed him. I interviewed 11 of the girls from the beside table photos, all but one confessed that he had molested them, three had said he forced sex on them. The last girl says that he never touched her, but he had asked some personal questions that had made her nervous, about her period and sexual life, and she had left without staying the night. The other 6 girls are going to come in tomorrow." 

"Why don't you take tonight off, since you've got to be here tomorrow to talk with the girls." Greg suggested, knowing she wouldn't agree, but wanting to try anyway. It was his duty to look out for her, that's what friends did, especially in this line of work. At the end of a grueling shift, it was his duty to keep her sane, he knew she'd do the same for him, she had plenty of times since he started working in the field. 

Sara shook her head, "I just need a pot of coffee and some cold water for my face, then I'll be ready to go. I've handled worse." 

"I know." Greg replied quietly, wrapping his arms around her pulled her head onto his chest, resting his chin on top of her brown hair. Her hair always smelled like coconuts, no matter what time of day, when she had washed her hair, what sort of case they were working on, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, her hair smelled of sweet coconuts. 

"So..." Sara said softly, pulling away from Greg and giving him a huge smile, "Care to share some of your expensive coffee with me?" 

"Depends, will you come out to eat with me on break?" Greg retorted, "I know of a great Chinese restaurant a few miles down the road." 

Sara shrugged, "Small price to pay for such wonderful coffee...I'll even buy." 

"Now you're talking." Greg teased, pulling her to her feet as they started walking towards the break room. "If you need an extra hand with your case" 

"Thanks." Sara said, cutting him off, "I...Well, I may take you up on it. Just don't worry about me, okay? There's so many people worse off, going through so much, don't waste worry energy on me." 

Greg tilted his head, giving her a quizzical look, "But Sara, you're my best friend, I'm going to worry about you no matter what. I care for you." 

"Aw, Greg, you're my best friend too...just don't let Catherine hear you say that." Sara warned, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head on his shoulder, "I'm lucky to have you, you know." 

"Believe me, I know." Greg joked, pulling away before the excitement his body felt began to become obvious by her touch. "Why don't you go home and grab a few hours of sleep, I'll tell Grissom you'll be in later." 

Sara rolled her eyes, "You're a broken record. Over, and over, and over again, that's all I hear. Warrick and Catherine are off tonight, I need to be here." 

Greg gave up arguing, and helped himself to a cup of coffee, "We're both off next Friday. Want to grab a movie or something?" 

Her response was cut off when Grissom entered the room, looking relieved to see them, "Oh, good, you two are here already. We've got a major case unfolding, all hands on deck. There was a private party at the Bellagio, the Governor's daughter's wedding reception, and there was gunfire. So far there are 4 dead, 5 injured. I'm calling in Catherine and Warrick, grab your kits and meet me there. Nick's on his way." 

"Gris, I'm working on a huge case." Sara started, but he cut her off quickly, "I think 24 hours was enough to start with on your homicide. Humor me with a few hours at the Bellagio, and I'll be more than willing to send you back to your workstation for the rest of shift." 

Sara made a sour face, stifling a yawn as she and Greg went to the locker room to get their vests and jacket. It was going to be a long night. 

Catherine and Warrick sat in a secluded booth, illuminated by candlelight, sharing a plate of lasagne, sitting as close as they could without being on top of each other. Of course, if they could be sitting on top of each other, they probably would be. 

"I had a reason for taking you out here tonight." Warrick said softly, his voice husky, as he poured her a glass of wine, "I've been planning this for a few weeks." 

"I knew there was a reason we both had off on the same night, that hardly ever happens." Catherine replied, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. For all of the years she was with Eddie, he had never gone to so much trouble for her. She felt guilty for the attention, although she was thrilled to be the focus of it. "So what is your reason?" 

Warrick brushed his hand against her cheek, kissing her lips gently, "Catherine, I've had feelings for you for a long time. The first time I saw you, I knew you were special. First, as a friend, then a 'special' friend, and now as a girlfriend. Cath, I love you. I love Lindsey. I" 

Warrick's statement was cut short by the phone's shrill ring. Sighing, he answered it with a gruff, "Brown." 

"Warrick, it's Grissom. I know you and Catherine had plans tonight, but I need the two of you to come in." Grissom said, his tone apologetic, "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't absolutely necessary, of course, but the Sheriff wants everyone on the case. It involves the Governor. Meet me at the Bellagio." 

Warrick groaned, this wasn't how he wanted to spend the evening he had worked so hard to prepare. "Right now?" 

"You know I wouldn't have called unless it was absolutely necessary," Grissom said once more, "As soon as possible, okay Warrick?" 

"We'll be there." Warrick said slowly, hating his job for the first time. He shoved the phone back into his pocket, frowning at Catherine, "We've got to get to the Bellagio, Gris needs us to work a case." 

"But it's our night off." Catherine moaned, not wanting to leave just as badly as Warrick, "What about Sara and Nick? Greg?" 

"We're all on it." Warrick replied, flagging down the waiter for their bill, "We're going to finish this tonight, after we get home, where it's just you and I, some soft music, chocolate covered strawberries..." 

"Let's get this case over with and just do that second part for a week." Catherine replied, "I always knew you were good with the ladies, but I never knew you were this good." 

Warrick smiled, despite how upset he was about being called away from something he considered so important. "I love you Catherine." 

"I love you too, Warrick." Catherine replied, slipping her hand under the table and letting it graze his thigh, then move a little higher, "After work, right?" 

Warrick moaned, shifting in his seat, "Definitely, baby." 

They arrived at the scene half an hour later, not too surprised to see that Grissom, Sara, Greg, and Nick were already marking casings and conducting interviews. Greg trailed behind Grissom as Grissom identified each occupant of the room against the guest list he had acquired from the Governor, Greg taking snapshots and deciphering each person's relationship to the Governor and his family. 

Sara was flagging each shell casing, while Nick was flagging the bullet holes in the walls, along with the location the victims had been shot at. Catherine walked over to Grissom, who had instructed her to start interviewing and fingerprinting the uninjured guests, while sending Greg to search the corridors of the floor they were on, looking for anything that could narrow down the list of suspects from everyone to anything but. Warrick, in the meantime, was instructed to search the perimeter of the building, from the casino to the parking garage, to spot anything that didn't belong. 

It was several hours before Catherine had finished conducting interviews, and was taking the multitude of cards to the lab for processing. She walked over to Sara, who was now marking her 113th bullet, the strain on her back evident as she stood, a grimace on her face. 

"I'm going to take these back to the lab. Everyone contributed voluntarily. What did you find?" Catherine asked, eyeing the sea of yellow markers on the floor. 

Nick spoke up, rotating his head to prevent a stiff neck, "We're thinking 4 or more shooters, we've found several different types of bullets, some possibly from a semi-automatic weapon." 

"Actually, some seem to come from a police issue gun." Sara added, "We'll need to analyze them more closely, of course, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it was someone in law enforcement. The governor didn't have too many friends." 

Warrick walked up to the trio, his kit in his hand, "I have a gun from the parking lot, I'm bringing it back to the lab. Want me to bring anything back for you guys? After I drop this off, I'm headed to the hospital to meet with the victims and give Grissom a hand." 

Catherine and Sara handed over their evidence bags, and looked around at the shambled room. Catherine nodded towards the emergency exit door, "I'm going to check that out, along with some of the doors that aren't frequently used, check for prints or fibers." 

"I'll go find Greg." Sara said, arching her back and trying to stifle a yawn. She had now put in over 36 hours of work, and was definitely ready for some sleep. "If he's doesn't need any help, I'm going to head back to the lab and start going through everything we've got." 

"I'll finish with the bullets." Nick offered, taking her remaining markers and scanning the floor for any casings she might have missed. 

Sara had only been out of the room for a few seconds when Nick and Catherine heard the sound of glass breaking, some muffled yelling, and a single gunshot. 

**TBC**


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer:** My raise this year gives me an extra 3 grand that wasn't budgeted...do you think they'd sell CSI to me for that much? 

**Author's Notes: ** Hope you enjoy, I didn't make you wait too long. I love Friday! I managed to get home from work with enough time to play with my little girl for 3 hours before she had to go to bed, and I got picked to do lab work this rotation, which is one of my favorite rotations. I was wishing for patrol, but after the heat of the last few days, the last thing I want to do is wear a thick, heavy, stuffy suit and be out in the heat. Yuck. 

I'm hoping to have another chapter out this weekend, since it's my weekend off. I'm interested in what you guys think, and I'm grateful for the response I've gotten so far! Sorry about the last cliffhanger, this time I won't leave you like that. Thanks for your support and confidence in my writing, I feel so warm and fuzzy inside. 

_Jenny_

**Three:**

Sara walked into the hallway, blinking as her eyes adjusted from the brightly lit ballroom to the dimly lit corridor. "Greg?" She called out, hoping the other CSI would answer her rather quickly, she was too exhausted to check each of the rooms on the floor. 

A muffled yell caught her attention, and her hand immediately went to her hip, where she kept her gun secured, her eyes and ears perking up for clues as to what was going on. 

The unmistakable thud of someone being pushed against the wall came flowing through the hallway, and Sara began to quietly creep through the corridor, her weapon now in her hands. The scuffle was coming from the first room on the left, which she remembered Grissom pointing out as the custodial closet. 

Weapon drawn, she kicked the door open, her eyes widening and her heart racing as she saw Greg pressed against the wall, a gun pushed roughly against his forehead, his face already bloodied with a broken nose. 

"Put your weapon down." Sara instructed, her voice strong, although her insides were shaking. She gripped her gun tighter, thankful she had drawn her weapon before entering, and said again, this time louder, "Las Vegas Police, drop your weapon, _now_." 

Greg's captor pushed his gun harder against Greg's temple, causing him to wince with pain. "Drop your gun or your friend gets it." He said, his voice cold and daring. "No funny business." 

Sara stared at the gun, then at the man holding it. She studied his face, tan and thin, with dark brown hair, nearly 200 pounds, give or take a few. She memorized his tattoos, the scars on his hands and face, the clothes he was wearing, and then said forcefully, "This isn't what you want to do. Put down your weapon, and we'll walk away like this never happened." 

"I hate cops." the man spat, tightening the grip he held on Greg's arm, anger evident in his face, "You don't know what I want! If I don't shoot you, both of you, we'll walk out of this room and you will arrest me. I'm not stupid, I watch TV. Now put down your gun, or I'll blow his brains out!" 

Sara's voice was now soothing, as she lowered her gun and took a hesitant step towards him, "We're not cops, we are crime scene analyzers. We just gather the evidence, we won't arrest you. My coworker here is just trying to gather some evidence so we can go home, it's been a long day. I'm sure you can agree, right?" 

"But you work with the cops, you carry a gun!" The man said after a few seconds of hesitation, "Put down your gun, I told you already! I'll kill him, I don't care, I'll kill him!" 

Sara shook her head, "If you shoot him, or me, the police will arrest you and possibly kill you. If you let us go, we can work something out. Once you fire your gun, though, there's nothing we can do to help you." 

The man let his grip on Greg slack for a second, obviously having second thoughts as he pictured the LVPD firing at him as he tried to escape. Greg, seizing the opportunity, kicked the man in the shin, his fist hitting the man's face as he lunged forward. He came back from his injury quickly, hitting the side of Greg's face with the butt of his gun, grabbing him and pushing him back against the wall, "Now you're asking for it, kid." 

"Let him go." Sara said, her voice now threatening as anger flooded her veins. She hated to see people bully each other, and now that her best friend was on the receiving end of some nasty blows, all thoughts of compromises were gone. "Put your weapon down, or I'll shoot." 

Greg stared at the man holding him against the wall, his body shaking, a light sweat breaking out on his forehead. The pressure from the gun in his temple was giving him a nasty headache, and by his woozy feeling, he was sure he had a concussion. He saw the man's trigger finger twitch slightly, and his eyes flew to Sara, who had obviously noticed it as well. Things were going from bad to worse, and Greg knew someone was about to dieprobably him or Sara. She had once sworn she could never kill anyone, and he was now scanning his brain, wondering if that was actually true, if she'd let this maniac shoot him before firing her weapon. 

He applied a little more pressure to Greg's temple, and Greg's vision started to fade in and out. This was it, he was going to die. The throbbing in his head was starting to be too much to bear, and he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep himself on his feet, it was taking all of his energy to keep himself from passing out. As the world went black, he heard a single gunshot. 

Sara watched as Greg's eyes started to roll upwards, his face as white as snow, and she ordered his attacker to surrender his weapon. As his finger started to twitch, she took a deep breath and fired her gun, not willing to risk losing Greg. She shut her eyes tightly, firing a second, third, and fourth time, until she lost the grip on her gun and fell to the floor, her eyes still shut, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her head in them, afraid to open her eyes, afraid to admit what she had just done. 

Seconds later, the hallway and custodial closet was busy with officers, paramedics, and the remaining CSI's. To Sara, though, the voices and shouts were miles away, almost like they were in a completely separate building, as she curled into a tighter ball. Did she hit Greg's attacker? Did she wound him, kill him? What if she had shot and hit Greg? What if he had fired a round before he died and killed her friend? Her breathing started to become more and more shallow as all sorts of scenarios played out in her mind. Pushing the palms of her hands hard against her eyes, she fought the tears that she knew were going to come, and tried to work up the courage to look at what she had done. 

Catherine and Nick had been in the ballroom, still going over evidence, when they heard gunfire in the hallway. Nick sprinted towards the doorway, glancing over his shoulder and calling out to Catherine, "Go get Brass, I'll check it out." 

"Be careful!" Catherine called out as Nick stopped by the door, drawing his own gun and stepping into the hallway. 

Nick entered the hall and was met with the metallic scent of blood. "Sara? Greg?" He called out, getting no response. Fear gripped his chest and he slowly made his way down the corridor, every few feet checking his back to make sure the assailant wasn't sneaking up behind him. It didn't take long to find the scene of the second murder. 

The doorway was open, and Nick slowly walked in, his gun held in both hands, surveying the scene before him. Against the back wall, Greg laid slumped against the wall, his face battered and bloody, unconscious, although Nick couldn't tell why without looking him over more carefully. Next to him laid someone Nick didn't know, blood oozing out of his still body, where Nick could clearly see at least 3 bullet holes. He studied the man for a moment, seeing that he wasn't breathing, and walked over to him, grabbing his wrist to check for a pulse. Finding a weak one, he turned to see Sara, huddled in the corner of the room, her gun on the floor a foot or so away from her, her knees drawn to her chest, rocking herself back and forth gently. 

Nick walked over to her, kneeling down beside her, "Sara?" 

Getting no response, he bolted back into the hallway, where Catherine, Brass, and a few of his men were rushing over, "Get some medics!" He called out, "We're in here!" 

Soon, the small room was full of people, the unknown criminal being loaded on a stretcher, the paramedics shouting tons of medical jargon that only they really understood, some different paramedics loading Greg onto one, telling Catherine he would be taken to Desert Palm, and it more didn't seem to be more than a few broken facial bones and a concussion. He had already started to regain consciousness as they wheeled him towards the elevator. 

Catherine glanced over to where Nick was kneeling by Sara, worry evident on his face. She had not yet uncurled herself, nor was she responding to Nick in any way. She was whispering softly to herself, although neither Nick nor Catherine could understand exactly what she was saying. 

"Come on, Sar, we need to go to the hospital." Nick said gently, his hand on her back, "We need to get you looked at and check on Greg." 

Sara refused to meet his eye, although she did allow herself to be pulled to her feet, her lip trembling, "I don't need to be looked at, he didn't touch me." 

"I'd still feel better about everything if they just checked you over." Nick insisted, "You don't look well." 

Sara shook her head, still staring at the floor, swaying a bit as she saw the blood pooled on the tile, a puddle that seemed to be a lot larger than one person could bleed in such a small amount of time. "I'm fine. I want to see Greg. Is he okay?" 

"I think so." Nick replied, "We'll go see him, okay?" 

"But first I need to ask you a few questions about what happened." Brass said, his tone gentle, yet serious. "Strictly procedure, Sara, we're not saying you did anything wrong, I just need a statement." 

"Can't we do this at the hospital, we all want to go check in on Greg." Nick said softly to Brass, his tone flat, "There's really nothing requiring us to stay here, right? Don't you want to see how he's doing?" 

"Of course I do, the kid's part of the team." Brass replied, "We'll continue this at the hospital, but it does need to get done tonight, you hear me?" 

Sara nodded silently, her eyes still on the pool of blood. She asked quietly, "Is he alive?" 

"Barely." Nick replied, leading her away from the small room, "You got him real good, Sara, 4 times in the chest, from what I could see. Are you okay?" 

Sara shook her head, allowing him to lead her down the hall, "I...I feel so numb. I can't believe I shot him. I can't believe this is happening." 

"That's a normal reaction, Sara." Nick replied, moving his hand from her back to her shoulder, "It's going to be okay, Sara, you'll start to feel better about it. Just think of what he could have done to you or Greg. It was self defense, I'm sure." 

Sara nodded, taking a deep breath of fresh air as they exited the hotel, "If he would have shot Greg, we would all be saying what an awful person he is. I shot him, but you're saying I did the right thing, and that he's still an awful person. That doesn't make any sense." 

"He was an awful person. He threatened hurt you and Greg, you were just protecting yourself, and Greg. That's not the same thing, not even slightly. You can't look at this black and white, Sara, you've got to see the grey." 

Warrick and Grissom had been speaking with the Governor's personal assistant when the call came through. Warrick had stayed to finish questioning the assistant, who's name was Theodore, while Grissom took the call in the hallway. 

"Grissom." 

"Gil, it's Catherine." 

Her voice was shaky, and Grissom immediately knew something was wrong. Fear gripped his chest as he asked, "What happened? Are you alright?" 

"It's Greg," she paused, "and Sara. There was an incident...they think Greg's going to be okay, a broken nose, maybe a broken cheekbone and a concussion. Sara's fine." Another pause. "But you should meet us in the Emergency Room at Desert Palm." 

"I'm in the Triage 3 waiting room right now, we're just finishing up with the Governor's assistant, we'll meet you in the front waiting area." Grissom replied, "What happened?" 

Catherine's voice was raspy, as if she was trying to hide tears, "One of our suspects roughed up Greg a bit, Sara shot him. He's in critical condition, probably coming into the Emergency Room as we speak. Brass is going to question Sara, and while I don't think she's in any trouble, it would be a good idea to have a supervisor present." 

"I'm on my way." Grissom replied, snapping his phone shut and looking up as Warrick exited the cubicle, "We need to get up front, there was an incident at the Bellagio, another incident, they're bringing Greg in." 

"Catherine?" Warrick asked, his face paling and his eyes wide, "Is Cath okay?" 

Grissom nodded, giving Warrick a reassuring pat on the arm, "She's fine, I just talked to her. Only Sara and Greg were involved. She wants us to meet her up front, they should be here shortly." 

Sara remained silent as she and Nick walked to the car that Catherine had pulled around. Climbing into the backseat, she rested her head against the window, sadness, anger, and disgust flooding her body as she fought the tears that were so eager to break free. 

She had always hated guns, guns killed people. An ex-boyfriend had always replied with "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." She had always retorted, "And when they do, I'll find enough evidence to put them away for life." Now, the tables were turned. Sure, he had pressed a gun to Greg's head and had roughed up the younger CSI a bit, but he had been frightened. The rational part of her brain was screaming at her, telling her Greg was frightened too, but he wasn't spraying bullets everywhere. Sara had been frightened as well, frightened enough to pull the trigger, frightened enough to put someone else's life in jeopardy. 

She had never been as terrified as she was when she saw Greg against the wall, a gun to his head. It was an image she'd probably never forget, but what was just as terrifying was the blood on the floor, blood she had caused, blood that resulted from bullets from her gun. She was a murderer, no better than the scum she helped pull off the streets every day. 

For Sara Sidle, tonight, there was no grey area, just black and white, right and wrong, life and death. And on the short ride to Desert Palm, the tears 

started to flow. 

_TBC_


	4. Chapter Four

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own them, but I did buy some of the paperback books today. 

_Author's Notes:_ Sorry it took me so long to update...it's been in the upper 80's since Saturday, and I've been working short shifts...normally that means more writing, this week it meant lounging by the pool. It's amazing how for the most part of the week, there has not been a single cloud in our clear blue sky. I **love** being able to swim in April. The south is great. (Of course, by July I'll be miserable and contemplating life in Antarctica.) I've got a nasty sunburn and I'm going to blister if I continue to go outdoors, so I guess I'll be inside and working on this more often for awhile. 

This is crap, it really is, and I'm not just saying that so you'll reply and tell me I'm wrong. It's really crappy. But it gets the story where I decided it's going to go, even if it's jumpy at bits. I'm sorry, I just can't focus right now. I do have the next chapter planned out though, which is better than this one, which just wrote itself. 

Thanks for your ongoing support, I am very touched by your kind words. 

_Jenny_

**Four:**

"Give us a few minutes." Catherine whispered to Nick as they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, "Go let Warrick and Grissom know that we're going to be in soon, okay?" 

Nick nodded, stealing a quick glance at Sara, who still had tears streaming silently down her face, then getting out of the car and walking towards the hospital entrance. 

Catherine climbed out as well, but opened the door to the backseat and climbed in, taking Sara's hand in her own, "I know it's a dumb question, but how are you holding up?" 

Sara stared at her hands, tears blurring her vision, as she thought of the many possible answers to Catherine's question. She wanted to say "fine" and pretend like nothing had happened, but she knew even she couldn't pull that off. In reality, she was so angry with herself for not trying harder to resolve the conflict without violence. 

Sure, she was trained to shoot and kill when the situation warranted it, but that didn't mean she actually wanted to kill people. Wasn't it her job to make sure people like her were put away? She had taken another life, something she could never condone, and she was disgusted with herself, with her actions, with everyone who was telling her she did the right thing. All she wanted to do was curl up in a corner and die. 

"Sara? Talk to me, okay?" Catherine asked, although it was more of a command, her voice rising slightly, "You can't shut us out." 

Sara shook her head sadly, still staring at her hands, the hands that held the guns, the hands that took a life. She started to tremble, allowing Catherine to pull her into a hug as she started to loudly sob, fear, grief, guilt, and anger pouring out of her in waves of agony. "Catherine, I hate this. I hate myself for doing this. Why! Why didn't I try harder to talk to him?" 

"Shh," Catherine soothed, "You can't beat yourself up over this. He was going to hurt Greg, he was going to hurt you. You had to protect yourself, it's your job to watch Greg's back." 

"I'm no better than he was, he's going to die, Cath, if he hasn't already. He's going to die because of me." Sara sobbed, "I swore I'd never take a person's life, I swore I wouldn't, not after everything I've lived through." 

Catherine held the sobbing woman in her arms, not knowing what to say to soothe her pain, knowing all of the consolations she could think of would not be enough to even begin to ease the pain and guilt on Sara's mind. After a few minutes, Catherine sighed, "It's an occupational hazard, Sara. Even though you feel like shit, you did the right thing. It sucks, doesn't it?" 

Sara nodded, her sobs lessening gradually, "How do you do this? How do you move on?" 

"You just do, Sara." Catherine whispered, "There's no magic word that can help you accept the situation and heal, there's no on and off switch for emotions, there's only time." 

Sara nodded again, slowly pulling away from Catherine, trying to stop the tears that were still pouring down her cheeks, "I'm so embarrassed." 

"It's a normal reaction, you're supposed to cry, you're supposed to feel remorseful, you're supposed to want to curl up under your covers for the rest of your life. If you didn't feel that way, then we'd worry about you. Don't you ever feel embarrassed for being human, Sara Sidle, we all know you are." Catherine said, her voice firm, "Now let's go inside, tell Brass exactly what happened so he can file his report, and check on Greg. He's probably really worried about you." 

"I wouldn't think he'd be worried. Relieved that I saved his butt, maybe, but not worried." Sara replied, her voice growing steadier. "He'd do the same for me, in a heartbeat." 

Catherine shook her head, "You don't see it, do you?" She paused, seeing confusion on Sara's face, "You don't. Sara, the boy's crazy about you. Not professionally, not some sort of crush, not just friendly, he absolutely adores you. I bet he's got a 'Sara shrine' at his apartment. I think he wants to be a 'special friend', if you know what I'm saying." 

"You're insane." Sara replied, following Catherine to the hospital doors, "We flirt, but we're just friends. Greg knows that. Greg and I have the same relationship as Nick and I. And he knows I'm not interested in romance right now, anyway. Just friends, Cath." 

Catherine shook her head, "Just watch how he acts towards you, you'll see what I'm talking about. It's written all over his face." 

"This isn't the time to be talking about this." Sara snapped, starting to get annoyed with the conversation, apprehension building in the pit of her stomach. It was time to face the music, time to face what she had done. 

Brass was already waiting in one of the plastic waiting room chairs, a pen and a small notebook in his hands. Beside him sat Conrad Ecklie, a frown on his face. This was going to get ugly. 

"Sara, have a seat." Brass said gently, motioning to a chair across from them, "We're just going to ask you a few questions about what happened tonight. It is very routine, we just wanted to make sure you followed procedure and that your actions were justified. Ecklie's team is investigating the shooting, and he asked to be present for the interview." 

Nearly an hour later, Sara was convinced that she was going to lose her job. Not only could she not remember easy facts and details on the events that had taken place, she had broke down crying in front of them, her guilty conscience showing as plainly as ever, and as soon as they had finished questioning her, an officer informed them that the person Sara had shot, named Jimmy Gardner, had just passed away. 

Greg had been moved to a private room, the doctors wanting to keep him overnight for observations, and while Nick and Catherine had gone back to the hotel to finish collecting evidence, Sara stayed to keep him company. 

"I'm sorry." Greg said sleepily, taking her hand into his own, "I'm sorry I drug you into the middle of this mess." 

"Hey, I planted myself there." Sara replied, stroking his hand gently, "I'm just sorry you got hurt." 

"Not as hurt as I would have been if you hadn't shot the bastard." Greg replied, his eyes narrowing, "I know how hard it must have been for you...I'm just glad you were able to do it. There was a minute or two where I thought you were going to just let him kill us." 

"It did cross my mind." Sara said softly, trying to fight tears. She watched as his eyes slid closed, and after a few seconds, she laid her head down on his bed and gave in to the fatigue as well. 

"Well, well. If it isn't Sleeping Beauty and Tweedledum." Warrick said as he entered the room a few hours later, seeing Greg and Sara whispering quietly to each other. "It's about time the two of you woke up." 

"It's been a long night." Sara replied, stifling a yawn. Truth be told, if Greg hadn't stirred in his sleep, she probably would still be drooling on his blanket, dead to the world. "What are you still doing here?" 

"I came to give you a ride home," Warrick said with a grin, "Greg's going to need someone to stay with while his concussion's clearing up, and since he offered to take you in last time, I offered you to return the favor. I'm figuring I can bring you home, have Nick drop off your car while you catch a few z's, and you can come back by and pick up Greg when he's discharged at 1:00 P.M." 

"Looks like we're going to be living together again." Sara told Greg with a smile. She was relieved that their relationship had remained strong after she moved out of his apartment, it was no secret that she had been worried about losing her close friend. "I'll stock up on buttered popcorn." 

"Don't forget the New York Super Fudge Chunk." Greg said with a bright smile, "Popcorn and Ice Cream, my two favorite things." 

Warrick rolled his eyes, "That's going to help his body heal." He said sarcastically. 

"What? It worked for me." Sara said defensively, "We ate that mix every day and I made a full recovery." 

Warrick shook his head with a smirk, "Yeah, and put on 15 pounds." 

"I thought you were supposed to be the sensible one," Greg told Warrick with wide eyes as Sara's narrowed, "I thought you'd have more sense than to tell a woman anything about her weight," He looked at Sara, squeezing her hand, "I think you're beautiful." 

Warrick's eyes widened a bit, and he backtracked, "Of course, I think you're beautiful too, I didn't mean that in a bad way, I was just saying..." 

"So, you'd been checking me out then?" Sara asked, her smile evident even in her voice, enjoying the slightly worried look in Warrick's eyes as he tried to think of an answer that wouldn't get him into any more trouble. Sometimes it was nice to throw the other guys for a loop. "Don't worry, I won't tell Catherine." 

"Tell me what?" Catherine asked, walking into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed, "Greg, how are you feeling?" 

"Better." Greg said with a tired smile, "My headache's not as bad, I'm just sore now." 

"It'll take time to heal completely." Catherine replied as she gave him a sympathetic smile. 

Warrick nudged her arm gently, "Guess who's moving in with Sara for a week long junk-food-fest?" 

"Watch out for him, Sara, he may try to sneak into your bed." Catherine laughed, watching as Greg began to protest, then shook his head with a shrug, as if to say 'Yeah, so?' 

Sara shook her head, "I don't think so. He had plenty of time to make his move when I was staying with him, and he didn't." 

"I couldn't hit on an injured woman without feeling guilty," Greg said in self defense as Warrick raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh, you two are ones to talk. You practically hopped into bed as soon as Catherine's casts were off." 

"If they waited that long." Sara added with a smirk, seeing Catherine's face blush slightly, Warrick's remaining neutral. "Oh my God, you didn't wait that long, did you?" 

Greg shook his head, "As much as I'd love to hear about your sex lives, it's really too much info at this point." 

"Greg, get some rest. Sar, let's get going, it's been a long shift and I need some sleep before I fall here." Warrick said, tugging on Sara's arm, "You two have plenty of time to plan your menus later." 

Greg reluctantly let go of Sara's hand, not wanting to see her go, "Are you sure it's going to be enough sleep for you, picking me up at 1?" 

"It's not like I have plans," Sara said bitterly, her good mood rapidly fading as the memories of why they were here filled her mind, "I'm on leave until they finish the investigation. Brass says I'm not in trouble, that I did everything by the book, but..." 

"I know." Greg replied, giving her a sympathetic smile, "Pick up two containers of ice cream, I think we'll need it." 

Sara gave him a soft smile, once again fighting tears. He always was able to make her feel better, she was so lucky to have such a wonderful friend. "Thanks." she whispered, allowing Warrick and a concerned Catherine to lead her from the room, shutting the door behind them. 

"It'll be good having Greg at your place. You two can keep an eye on each other." Catherine said gently, putting her arm around Sara, "Just as long as your eyes are all you keep on each other." 

"We're just friends." Sara replied, "I feel the same way about Greg as I feel about you, Warrick, Nick, and Grissom. We're all friends, practically related. Being with any of you would be like being with my brother or sister." 

"That's what I thought, until it happened." Catherine said with a knowing smile, "He likes you, Sara, don't throw that away. Look at you and Grissom." 

Sara shook her head, "That's was just a crush that spun out of control. I'm over that, Gris and I are friends. Greg doesn't like me that way, we're just friends. Best friends. Guys and girls can be friends without having sex, you know that, right?" 

"I'm just telling you what I see." Catherine replied as they walked into the parking garage, "And I see you and Greg in the future." 

"Enough meddling, leave the poor girl alone!" Warrick chastised as they reached the Tahoe, "She's been through enough, stop giving her more things to worry about." 

Sara sat in the backseat, a small smile tugging on her lips. Greg? She hadn't seriously considered a relationship with him. They were just friends. But, if they were just friends, why did she get butterflies in her stomach while Catherine was going on and on about how he liked her earlier? This was going to be one of those crazy days, she could just feel it. 


	5. Chapter Five

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own them, but I do own a CSI t-shirt.

_Author's Notes:_ A little longer than usual, I had more time today to do some writing. I think this chapter is better than the last one, I spent the entire day (playing hookey from work) playing in the pool and having a crawfish boil with my brothers and sister, and after all was said and done, I enjoyed a wonderful evening with my daughter, and put her to bed just as the sun was going down on a wonderful, 83-degree, cloud-free day. If today could last forever...alas, I have to go back to work at -- groan -- 4:00 am. I guess I should really be going to bed, but I think I'll start working on the next chapter.

I may have left you with a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of this one.

_Jenn_y

**Five:**

"Come on, get up!" Greg complained, standing over Sara's bed, shaking her shoulders roughly, "Get up! Get up! Get up!"

"Leave me alone!" Sara complained, pushing his arms away, "I'm sleeping."

Greg smirked, "You wouldn't be talking to me if you were sleeping."

"Smart ass." Sara snapped, pulling the comforter over her head, "I'm not ready to get up yet."

Greg sat next to her on the bed, pulling the covers from her face, "What time did you go to bed?"

"I don't remember." Sara mumbled, rolling over and burying her head into her pillow. It couldn't have been longer than four hours ago, and while four hours was usually just enough sleep for her, today she wasn't in the mood to do anything besides lay in bed, in the dark, and hate herself for what she had done.

On the other hand, Greg had insisted that they get out of the apartment. He had been staying with her for 4 days now, and while he was feeling much better and able to go home, he wasn't ready to leave Sara behind, not when she was still so upset over killing Jimmy Gardner, self defense or not. He couldn't blame her, he'd feel the same way, and, even though he'd probably bury himself in his room like she was doing, he would appreciate having someone to help him out of depression.

The first day had been great. She had fussed over him, making sure he ate enough, rested enough, drank enough. They had curled up on the couch together, watching a "Forensic Files" marathon, her choice, and enjoyed their customary comfort food. Somewhere in the middle of the night, they both fell asleep, Sara's head on one arm of the couch, her legs curled up in Greg's lap, and Greg's head leaning against her thigh while his legs slightly curled beneath him.

He had been pleasantly surprised to see she hadn't been embarrassed when they awoke the next morning, and instead thanked him for a good night's rest, she had suffered with nightmares during the few hours of sleep she had gotten before picking him up at the hospital. He had taken a shower while she cooked them breakfast, and they had shared a pleasant meal.

That's when things had started to go downhill. By noon, Sara had received 9 phone calls. 3 were from local media stations, wanting an interview on what had happened. 5 were heavy-breathing hang-ups. And the final call was from Ecklie, he had additional questions for Sara, and wanted to interview-which, in Ecklie's terms, meant fully interrogate- Greg.

They had gone down to the lab, and Ecklie had run both of them through the events of the night again, once separately, then once together, this time concentrating on the little details and the evidence they had collected to match or contradict their story. After having them mentally run around in circles, he let them go back to Sara's, without even a hint of what was going on in his investigation. Sure, he wasn't allowed to, they knew that, but neither had even been able to pick up on a positive or negative vibe from the man.

"It's not surprising," Greg had said, "We couldn't pick up on anything positive because he never is positive. We're damned if we do, damned if we don't. He's never happy. Don't worry about Ecklie, you did everything just like you were supposed to do. He was going to kill me, kill you, probably kill Cath and Nick too."

Sara hadn't been convinced. She had went straight into her bedroom after arriving home, coming out only to fix him something to eat, fuss at him to get some rest, and make sure he took his medication on time.

The next day hadn't been much better. While Ecklie didn't bother them anymore, the boredom of being at home was getting to both of them. They had watched movies, both not paying attention, Sara was beating herself up over the shooting while Greg worriedly watched her, and had called it a night early.

They hadn't been asleep for longer than an hour when Sara had an awful nightmare, waking both of them up (and probably several of her neighbors), and after he had calmed her down enough to where her tears had stopped, he knew she wasn't going to go back to sleep.

This morning, seeing her protesting form, he knew she probably hadn't for awhile. "Come on, we can go to the park. Or go shopping. Or walk on the Strip and laugh at the tourists who are staring at the buildings and glamour like they would a UFO. We can get some ice cream, go to a movie, go bowling--"

"Bowling?" Sara asked with a laugh, "I don't think so, Greg. I really don't feel like going anywhere."

Greg laid down next to her, propping his head on his elbow, "It makes me sad to know you're in here all alone, upset, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"I just...I don't know what to do. His funeral was today, I saw it in the paper. He's got friends and family who are going to grieve over him, who are going to miss him, who are going to feel so lonely knowing he's not in their lives anymore." Sara said with a heavy sigh, tears glistening in her eyes.

Greg pushed a strand of hair from her face, his thumb resting on her cheek, "Sara, you aren't looking at the whole picture. Think of the people he killed, think about what it would be like if Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, and Nick were at our funeral. Sara, we could have died! Don't--"

"Don't you think I know that!" Sara snapped, sitting up abruptly, her arm flying in the air with a sudden burst of anger, "Don't you think I know he could have killed us? He would have killed us? That he helped kill all of those people? That he was a criminal?" Her lip started to tremble and as Greg reached out for her, she pulled away, "Don't," she spoke softly, shaking her head, "It doesn't matter that he was all of those things, he still died because of me. Nothing you do or say will make me feel better about that. It's not worth even trying."

Greg reached out to her again, and this time she didn't refuse, instead she collapsed in his arms, sobbing loudly into his bare chest, her hands clinging to his back. As he gently held her, tears streaked down his own cheeks as he began to feel the pain she felt. Whispering soothing words to the top of her head, which was right beneath his chin, he tried to calm his nearly hysterical friend.

After several minutes, her sobs turned into hiccups, and eventually stopped completely, leaving the two friends holding each other, emotionally drained, yet oddly comforted. Worn out from the past few days, they slowly drifted back to sleep, the rest of the world forgotten.

Warrick opened one eye, seeing Catherine's bustling form sliding on a pair of slacks and a fresh silk shirt. "It's not even close to work time again."

"We're going out to eat with the group before shift, remember?" Catherine asked as she fastened an earring, "Nick mentioned it last night, we invited Sara and Greg?"

Warrick nodded sleepily, not wanting to get up, and wanting Catherine to rejoin him even more, "Tell them we forgot, just come back to bed, baby."

"I can't, Catherine replied in a pained voice, "I'd love to, believe me, but while you're getting up and ready, I've got to drive Lindsey over to her friend's house for a slumber party. It's her first one, you know, she's very excited."

"Ugh, slumber parties, Warrick moaned. "Why couldn't we all go out for breakfast before coming home last night?"

"For starters," Catherine said with a smile, "You had other things on your mind when we got here this morning. Then, there's the fact that we would have had to get Sara and Greg out of bed and on the road when they're both supposed to be resting. Besides, I'd still have to get Lindsey to her friend's house. Stop being a baby and get up."

Warrick patted the bed next to him, "Just for a few minutes?"

"I promise you, when we get off of work tonight, we'll stay in bed all day...and we'll do whatever you want." Catherine purred, leaning her and letting her lips trail across his chest and up to his face. "I'll even wear my black nightie."

Warrick's eyes widened and he moaned as Catherine kissed him passionately, disappointment on his face when she pulled away, "Oh, baby..."

"I've got to drop Lindsey off. We're meeting at the diner in an hour, please don't forget." Catherine said as she checked her appearance in the mirror, "Love you."

"Love you too." Warrick replied, stretching as he contemplated how long it would take him to shower. Deciding he had a few more minutes of rest, he set the alarm and rolled over, burying his face in Catherine's pillow. Even after she had gone, her pillow and blankets still smelled like her. He inhaled deeply, his thoughts of Catherine as he drifted back into a light sleep.

Sara and Greg walked into the diner, being spotted by Nick before they spotted anyone. He rushed up to them, giving Sara a huge hug, her feet coming slightly off the ground, and then a firm, manly hug to Greg, who seemed to be tense with sudden jealousy.

"It's only been a few days since you've seen us," Sara murmured, not liking to be the center of attention, "Not a few years, not a few decades, just a few days."

Nick smiled tenderly at her, "I know, but I've really missed you. The lab isn't the same without you guys. And we've all been worried...everyone's looking forward to having both of you back."

"I'm looking forward to going back." Sara relied, just as Greg said, "I could use another couple of days to rest."

Sara laughed, "No, just a few more days of popcorn and ice cream binges."

"That, too." Greg said as they walked to the booth everyone was seated in, "How's work?"

Nick shook his head, "We're still trying to nail the Bellagio case, we're having a hard time tracking down the gunmen, every lead turns out to be a dead one."

"The governor is upset, and we're all throwing in overtime, but I don't know if we'll be able to catch these guys. I don't remember ever being so stumped over a case." Warrick added, "It's crazy, nothing seems to fit, every time one thing goes right, 3 more go wrong."

"Sorry we're not able to help." Greg said softly, his hand moving to his head before he realized what he was doing. The spot where the gun had been held was still bruised a tender, and he flinched slightly as his fingers touched it.

Catherine gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, "Believe me, you're much better off resting anyway. At least your headache isn't stress-induced. We miss you, but we want you completely healed before you see your annoying little butt again."

"His butt isn't the annoying part." Nick teased, "It's that mouth he's always running."

Greg turned to Sara, his eyes wide, "Are you going to let them pick on me like that?"

"What do you think I'm going to do about it? Shoot them?" Sara shot back, her expression dark. The table fell silent.

The rest of the group exchanged worried glances while Greg kicked Sara's foot under the table, giving her a stern look, resulting in her lowering head gaze to the table. "Sorry." she muttered, closing her eyes for a few moments and trying to think of something to make the last comment sound a little better.

A few minutes passed, and she realized she couldn't think of anything to undo what she had just said. She wanted to kick herself in the butt for making the rest of the group uncomfortable, and was suddenly wondering if she should have even come at all. Maybe she and Greg should have just stayed in bed all day.

She felt someone squeeze her hand, and looking up, saw Nick's worried gaze, "Let's go outside and talk."

"I don't want to talk." Sara said, knowing she was being difficult, but not being able to stop her words.

Nick shrugged, then gave her a stern look, "I don't care, I do want to talk. Outside, now."

She allowed him to pull her to her feet and followed him out of the diner, where they sat on a wooden bench close to the door. Inside, the table had suddenly come alive.

"She's not okay, is she man?" Warrick asked, staring at Greg, "Has she been like this since you've been there?"

Greg shook his head, "The first day she was okay...she's been like this ever since Ecklie questioned us. And to make it worse, today was Gardner's funeral."

"You should have called me, I could have talked to her, woman to woman." Catherine said with a sigh. She looked over her shoulder where Nick and Sara were in an animated conversation, Sara's hands moving as she talked, anger evident in her features, "I knew she was going to take this hard, but she looks awful."

Greg nodded, his gaze drifting to Nick and Sara as well, trying to control the jealousy pumping through his veins, "She's just really stressed out, and when she's stressed, she works, and she's not able to right now. It's killing her, staying at home, she needs to be doing something, but she doesn't like to do anything."

"Hiking." Grissom said from the end of the table, where he had been watching the entire exchange in silence, "She enjoys hiking. When you're feeling better, before you come back to work, take a few days off and you two can go hiking. Make a weekend trip out of it, rent a cabin, swim in a river, pick a hard course and work it through."

Greg looked up at Grissom, surprise on his face. How did Grissom know what Sara liked? They hadn't gone on any hiking trips together, had they? Maybe in the past, before Sara moved to Vegas?

Grissom, as if sensing his questions, spoke softly, "She mentioned it once during a seminar. She says it's relaxing."

"Maybe that's what we need." Warrick whispered to Catherine as Greg and Grissom discussed different local hiking trails, "A weekend away. When Greg and Sara come back to work, we definitely need a weekend off together." He let his hand slide up her thigh, giving it a slight squeeze, "Me, you, the beach at sunset..."

A smile graced Catherine's lips and she snuggled closer to him, "Consider it a date."

The table fell silent again as Sara's loud voice made it's way into the diner, Nick's following seconds later. Turning to look at what was causing the commotion, the group found themselves witnessing what was coming very close to a fight between Sara and Nick, and a guy who they had never seen before.

Warrick and Grissom were up and moving towards the door before Catherine and Greg even had time to process what was going on. At the sight of a gun in the unknown man's jacket, however, Catherine quickly took out her phone to dial Brass.

_-TBC-_


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer:** I only own Jimmy and Trey. And I really don't own them, because they're just made up thoughts, and you can't really own thoughts. 

**Author's Notes: ** This is a little longer than any of my other chapters have been, and I didn't even cover all I wanted to cover, which just means the important Catherine/Warrick things I wanted to cover will be concentrated in the next chapter. 

I blame the length on my wonderful evening, which has left me totally energized. I spent the day at work doing grunt work, like measuring the size of the campus park and the distance from a certain set of dorm rooms to the park, and back, and the different paths that could be taken...tape measures, pedometers, and protractors (oh my!). Anyway, after an exhausting day in overpowering heat (well, the heat wasn't too bad, although the humidity was going to kill me), my sister and brother convinced me to go to the casino with them and bet on the horses. This chapter is the result of 3 beers, 2 winning races, and losing it all back in the slot machines. 

Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews...you guys are the best! You keep me inspired to write, which I'm grateful for, without you I would get bored and quit in the middle of writing this thing. So, thanks! 

_Jenny_

**Six:**

"Sara, you've got to realize that you didn't do anything wrong." Nick said firmly, his hands on her shoulders, "I know you hate yourself for killing that guy, but we are all so glad you did! I don't know what I'd do without you." 

Sara pulled away, shaking her head and cursing loudly, "Nick! It's not that easy, you can't just say I did a good deed. I don't care about why I did it, I just care that I did it! So what if he was a criminal? So what if he killed those people at the party? He was still a human, and I took his life." 

"So, it's true then?" A cold voice asked from behind Sara, causing both Sara and Nick to startle slightly. Neither had seen him coming, but now he stood next to them, his eyes cold and his body tense with rage, "You're that cop that killed Jimmy." 

Sara was too shocked to reply with her usual "I'm not a cop, I'm a CSI" reply, so she just stared at him, her mind numb with sudden fear. Nick, apparently, felt the same way, because he took a step closer to her, taking her arm with his hand protectively, "Who are you?" Nick asked, his voice hard. 

"Man, he was innocent, I can't believe you guys shoot innocent men. And they say cops are all looking out for the good guys, but in reality, you just don't care. You see someone you think could be a criminal or a suspect or something and you shoot him in cold blood. That's the reason you people make me sick. Jimmy wouldn't hurt a fly, much less a pretty girl like you." The man said, his voice trembling slightly, "Self defense, huh? I bet you didn't even give him a chance to defend himself, I bet be wasn't doing a damn thing wrong." 

Sara felt her blood began to boil, but knowing this guy just wanted to bait her, she forced herself to remain calm, "If you believe this was done out of malice, or Jimmy Gardner was treated unfairly, feel free to call the Vegas Crime Lab and question Conrad Ecklie, he's handling the case. I don't have anything else to say to you." 

"And if you don't stop harassing her, we'll call for backup." Nick added, his arm still on Sara, this time to keep her calm. He could see her rigid stance, poised to fight, and although he was glad to see some of the Sara he was familiar with shining through, he wanted to kick her for coming out of her quiet depression at this moment. 

The man's fist pounded on the wall of the diner, anger showing on his face, "Where was Jimmy's backup? Who was protecting him from this crazy bitch?" 

"First off, I'm not crazy!" Sara yelled, yanking her arm away from Nick, "Secondly, Jimmy had a gun pointed to my best friend's head, and he was telling me he was going to kill both of us! Unless you were there, you don't have a damn clue what happened!" 

"Sara, calm down," Nick said, grabbing her arm again and not letting her pull back. "Sir, you need to leave." 

The man took a step closer to Nick, pushing Sara aside, "What will you do if I don't? Shoot me? Obviously the LVPD doesn't have a problem with their people murdering the rest of us." 

Nick and Sara both looked as if they were about to jump on top of the man when the door opened and Grissom and Warrick walked outside, Grissom's voice cool and calm, "Is there a problem?" 

"You must work with this bitch here? What, you all going to shoot me? You travel in packs or something? This bitch should be in jail, with all of the other murderers! I know Jimmy didn't do nothing to her!" the man said, the rising anger evident on his features, "That's the damn legal system, letting the bad guys off and the good guys rot." 

"Sir, you need to calm down." Warrick said, taking a step towards him, "Walk away and get your mind clear. It won't help the situation if you get arrested for assaulting an officer of the law." 

The man turned on Warrick, his hand starting to move towards his jacket, where he knew he kept his 9 mm. "This doesn't have nothing to do with you. Go back inside and keep out of it." He nodded towards Grissom and Nick, "You too. This is between me and the girl." 

"You lost your friend, and you're upset." Grissom said, his voice still eerily calm, "Sara's _our_ friend, and we'd be very upset if we lost her. I know you must feel like we failed Jimmy and we made a mistake, but you do not know the details of the situation. It's okay to be upset and angry, but causing a fight our hurting our friend won't make Jimmy come back, it won't change what's already been done. You wouldn't want to spend time in jail just because you wanted revenge, would you?" 

The man let his hand fall to his side, although his eyes were still focused on Sara, "Bitch, you better watch out, because we're going to be looking for you, and next time, there won't be anyone to help you." He mimicked a gunshot, then patted his jacket with a warning glare. 

He turned around to come face-to-face with Brass, "Making a threat against CSI Sidle, are you? I think you ought to come with me," He looked over to Sara, "You too, we'll get the paperwork started on a restraining order while you file an official complaint against this thug here." 

The man reached for his jacket again, but Brass pinned his arm behind his back, "Oh, no, not so fast." He motioned for Nick to retrieve the gun, which he did after sliding on a latex glove which had been in his own jacket pocket, and then Brass pushed the man against the car, his hands roughly patting down the man's sides, "Just to make sure you don't have any other toys in here." 

Brass came across the wallet, which he pulled out and read the driver's license, "Trey Gardner, nice, Jimmy's brother, I suppose? Maybe a cousin?" 

"Brother." Trey replied gruffly, struggling against Brass's grasp, "What's it to you?" 

"Brother or not, you have no right to corner and threaten my people." Brass tightened his grip, whispering harshly in his ear, "When we get to the station, we're in my turf, and your bad-boy-thug image is going to go to shit." 

Several hours later, Greg and Sara were back in Sara's living room, Greg checking all of the rooms for any signs of intrusions, the locks on the doors and windows for their reliability, "Just in case." He had told Sara, but he knew that if he hadn't checked, she would be doing it. It didn't take a genius to know he had been involved in the governor's case, and if he could easily spot her on the street, he and his buddies could just as easily track her down and get her address...the case had been covered well enough by the media that Sara's name was now well known. Just because Trey had a R.O. from Sara, it wouldn't stop his buddies from getting too close. 

Grissom had suggested she stay with someone else, but she had been quick to point out that if she wasn't at her apartment, they'd probably assume she was staying with a co-worker. She had also shot down the idea of staying at one of Vegas's many hotels, returning to San Francisco to visit her brother, and going on a trip out of town for awhile until the case was solved. She had agreed to let an officer do surveillance on her apartment, but the idea had been turned down by the Sheriff, who had said the department was too busy as it was, they didn't have the manpower to spare. He also said the R.O. would be enough, and there was nothing to indicate anyone else would want to track her down. 

If he only saw what they saw on a nightly basis. Greg had insisted he was going to stay with her until all of Jimmy's accomplices were behind bars, and Sara had been too freaked out about the whole situation to argue. She did, however, draw the line when everyone else -up to Brass himself- had volunteered to do the same. After that, she put her foot down and swore she and Greg would be fine, Trey had just been trying to scare her, get under her skin, and she wasn't going to let him win. 

The only positive thing about the whole ordeal was that they now had Trey's fingerprints on file, and they were a match to some found at the ballroom at the Bellagio. It was now a matter of getting him to shed some light on who else had been present that night, and what exactly had gone down. 

"Sar, we should get some rest. It's been a long day." Greg said softly, taking her hand into his and squeezing it gently, "Go take a long, hot shower, and we'll watch some TV, then we can call it a night. I think we've still got some Ben and Jerry's in the freezer, and instead of soda, I think I can wrangle up a few beers. We've still got a few out of that case we bought a few weeks ago, right?" 

Sara nodded, sighing heavily. She felt so tired, mentally and physically. Sure, she could see why Trey had been upset, but she had felt so scared when she had gotten a glimpse of his gun. If Brass wouldn't have shown up...if Nick hadn't been there to keep her cool...if she would have been alone, or if he would have come to her apartment...things could have turned out so differently. And now, she didn't even have her weapon to defend herself. Not that she would have shot anyone, again, but she only now realized how comforting it was knowing she was protected by her weapon everywhere she went. That would be one part of her CSI uniform she wouldn't over-rate in the future. 

She turned the shower on and let the hot water cascade down her body, sinking to the shower floor as the tears finally began to fall. She had been consumed with guilt over shooting Jimmy, but had somehow managed to let that go over the past few hours, the pain and guilt less intense than it had been since the shooting. Now she was remembering the fear and pain she had seen on Greg's face, the panic that had filled her own body, the worry that this was far from over, the fear she had felt outside of the diner this evening, the terror that was growing in her heart as she thought that someone could so easily walk up to her with a gun, and threaten her in broad daylight. 

Her job was coming alive now, sure, they dealt with the sick, twisted people of the world every day, but never had it been so personal as the last week. Even when she was standing in the small room with Jimmy and Greg, it wasn't personal, it wasn't painfully terrifying as it was now. She felt like the fear was going to crush her chest, wondering if the sounds she heard in her apartment came from Greg or from one of the other friends or relatives of Jimmy, wanting to avenge his death. Would she be safe at the supermarket? In her car? In her bedroom? Where could she hide if she wanted to get away from these creeps? Would she ever feel safe in her own skin again? 

She covered her face with her hands, trying to get a grip on herself. Sure, she had been in a bind today, but Trey hadn't even drawn his weapon, whereas Jimmy was waving his around like a maniac, yet she felt 10 times more scared now than she had the night she shot Jimmy. Maybe it was because Trey had so blatantly threatened her, or because she now realized that if they wanted her, she wasn't hard to track down, or maybe because she now saw firsthand, not after the fact, but during, what crazy people lived in the limits of her city. 

The water soon turned cold, but she seemed unable to stop her tears, and remained curled on the floor, shaking from not only her sobs but the ice cold water beating on her back. 

She didn't noticed when Greg turned the water off, barely glancing at him as he wrapped a towel around her and led her to her room, handing her a pair of pajamas and underwear. She let them fall to the floor as she sank to her knees, unable to support herself without Greg's assistance, and barely flinched as he dried her off and helped her dress, tucking her into bed and laying beside her, allowing her to bury her head in his chest as she continued to sob. Tomorrow, she'd be embarrassed. Tonight, she needed the comfort of a close friend. 

Across town, Catherine burst into Grissom's office, Warrick hot on her heels, "I've got it!" She cried out, throwing a stack of papers on Grissom's desk. 

"What?" Grissom asked, turning his attention away from his computer and looking at Catherine expectantly, seemingly unfazed by her excited outburst, "What do you have?" 

"We've got a list of the 2 other people Trey Gardner says were working the Bellagio with him the night of the shooting," Warrick supplied. "Brass is bringing them in for questioning." 

"We got the report from ballistics on Jimmy's gun, it was one used in the shooting, actually, it was the one which killed the governor's new son-in-law," Catherine added excitedly. "Also, Trey's gun supplied 27 bullets that Nick and Sara bagged at the Bellagio. His fingerprint was on the emergency exit, and the bullets are a match for one they pulled out of the governor's assistant, Theodore Harris." 

"We also found another set of prints, besides Trey's, on the gun, which we're running through AFIS right now. If we get a hit, it's another possible gunman." Warrick said triumphantly. 

Grissom gave them a wan smile, "It's about time we made some headway with this case. Page me when Brass gets the suspects in, we'll divide and conquer. Catherine, find Nick and tell him to stick close to the lab until they arrive. Warrick, I want anything at all that can tie the Gardner brothers with the governor in any way." 

"Already working on that," Warrick said quietly, "There's nothing yet, but they could have been hired. I'm working on getting a warrant for their bank and phone records." 

"I'll call Brass and have him push that through." Grissom said with a sigh, turning back to his computer, "I talked to him about an hour ago, he's going to send an officer to patrol the neighborhood Sara's apartment complex is in 'coincidentally' every hour or so for the next couple of days. I'm trying to get Ecklie to finish her investigation so she can be back in the lab, instead of alone at her apartment." 

Catherine nudged Warrick with a smile, nodding to Grissom's obvious concern, "And here we were, thinking you didn't care." she said in a teasing voice, trying to lighten the heavy mood that had been present like a thick fog all week. 

"You think it's a good idea to have her out in the field?" Warrick asked, concern causing his forehead to wrinkle, his head tilted slightly to the right as he studied Grissom, "With some lunatic threatening her? Without the other two suspects caught?" 

Grissom shook his head, "No, she's not going to be in the field, she's going to be in the lab until the case is complete. It's safer for her to be in here than it is for her to be in her apartment. Greg will be able to come back to work the day after tomorrow, and I'd like for them to come back together. They seem to be close." 

"Getting closer every day." Catherine muttered under her breath, giving a smirk to Warrick. 

Warrick shook his head, "We'll be on our pagers if you need us." 

"Let me know when the suspects get here!" Grissom called out as Catherine and Warrick disappeared from sight. 

Nick sat in the break room, studying the ballistics reports from the Bellagio shooting. 4 guns, 4 types of bullets. 113 total, 27 coming from Trey's gun, 13 coming from Jimmy's. That left 73 bullets unaccounted for, probably from a semi-automatic weapon. Of course, he would have assumed Trey's was a semi-automatic as well, but it seemed that Trey had just kept reloading his gun instead of having one with a continuous release. Assume nothing, Grissom always told him, a lesson that was reinforced every day with every puzzling case that came through their shift. 

He was exhausted, they had all been surviving on coffee for the last week, busy with the case, trying to handle the cases they had been working on before the shooting, and covering the slack from missing two CSI's. He would be relieved when Sara came back, even Greg, just so he could go home and get more than 3 hours of sleep. 

He was worried about Sara, he couldn't deny it. She had seemed...off...to him earlier, and he knew it was eating her alive to know she had shot Jimmy. He wished he could say something to help her, he almost wished he had been the one held at gunpoint just so he could be with her at her apartment. One flashback to Nigel Crane, and he pushed those wishes aside. He wouldn't wish having a gun in your face to anyone, although he wouldn't mind being near Sara, holding her and making her feel better, spending 24 hours a day in her apartment, at arm's reach away. He just hoped Greg was taking care of her, and he tried to push the jealousy aside. Maybe once Greg came back to work, if Sara wasn't back yet, he could take his night off and stay with her. 

His pager went off, and he realized the suspects were here. Meeting up with Catherine and Warrick in the hall, he said a quick prayer that they would have this case wrapped up by the end of shift. 

Sara awoke to the sound of terrified crying. At first she wasn't sure what was going on, where was she? When had she fallen asleep? But all of a sudden, memories crashed down on her. She had completely lost it earlier, probably having a nervous breakdown, of sorts, and Greg had taken care of her. She had cried on his shoulder for hours until they both fell asleep. 

Which meant that the cries were coming from Greg. 

She rubbed her eyes, turning to see Greg shifting uneasily on the bed, gripping the pillow tightly. She shook his arm, "Greg, wake up." 

He moaned again, mumbling something incoherently, his cheeks wet with tears. She shook him again, this time harder. "Greg! Can you hear me? You're dreaming, wake up. Please?" 

She reached out to grab his arm again, and his eyes shot open, his body throwing itself into a sitting position, causing their heads to bang forcefully against each other. 

"Jesus, Greg!" She yelled, rubbing her forehead, "Are you okay?" 

Greg's hand rose to his own forehead, as he blinked rapidly, trying to figure out where he was. As his eyes adjusted, he realized he was in Sara's room, with Sara hovering over him. He allowed her to give him a tight hut, and he blinked back tears of his own. She was going through enough, she didn't need his problems to add to her own. 

"It was just a nightmare Greg, they can't hurt you. I promise, no one will hurt you as long as I'm around." Sara soothed, holding him tightly and rocking him back and forth gently. She was no stranger to nightmares, and she was going to do her best to take care of Greg like he had been taking care of her for the last two days. "I'll keep you safe, I promise." 

Greg smiled, even though his fear and shame from his dream, "You'll just shoot the dreams away, won't you?" 

"If you were anyone else, I'd hit you for that." Sara replied, her lips close to his ear, enough to make him feel a physical reaction. "You are so lucky that you're my best friend." 

"Best friend." Greg replied, pulling away slightly, knowing that if he didn't force himself to remember the distance, he wouldn't be able to control wandering hands, "Have you ever thought about being something more?" 

_TBC_


	7. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer**: I don't own them, and I honestly wouldn't know what to do if I did. 

**Author's Notes:** I'm honestly surprised that I churned out another chapter today, but I am pleased that I did. I expect this to be ending in another 3 or 4 chapters...just to warn you. 

Ah, this one is full of conflict, I'm in a conflict mood today. A cliffhanger at the end, but no need to worry, nothing life threatening. Just an incentive to keep you coming back for more. 

More Catherine and Warrick, hope you enjoy that, and some Greg and Sara angst, with the introduction of a new (yet minute) character. Also something to keep you Nick and Sara shippers on edge and to make you Greg and Sara shippers panic. I'm evil, I know it, I'm sorry. 

Hope you enjoy, thanks to everyone who has responded, I look forward to hearing from you, you make my ego inflate so nicely. 

_Jenny_

**Seven:**

"To solving the case of the year!" Catherine said, allowing her wine glass to clink softly with Warrick's, "I really thought we'd never solve that one." 

Warrick took a sip of wine, smiling at Catherine, his hand wandering up her thigh, "Neither did I, but it all worked out. It's amazing how you get that one tip and all of a sudden everything falls into place. I'm just glad that it's over, we've worked too many hours on this one, at least it was worth it." 

"And not only did we put these guys behind bars, their confessions that Jimmy was armed, high, and part of the murders cleared Sara to come back to work. Finally, the whole team will be back and hopefully things will get back to normal," Catherine added, moving her leg slightly so his hand could travel a little higher, "She's going to be thrilled, I really think getting back to work will help her cope a little better. I'm worried about her." 

Warrick's hand made contact with the top of her leg and he whispered softly, "She's a strong woman, just like you are, and very resilient. I have no doubts she'll be back to normal in no time," His lips brushed against her ear, "Do you realize this is the first meal we've had alone, together, since this case started?" 

"If I remember correctly," Catherine said, shutting her legs and shifting as she started to become aroused, "You were buttering me up for something at our last meal." 

Warrick let his rejected hand begin the path up Catherine's leg again, not one to give up easily, his own body aroused as she squirmed out of his grasp, her face flushing slightly, "You're right, I was. I..I love you Catherine." 

"I love you too," Catherine replied, letting her own hand explore underneath the table, "You're the best thing, besides Lindsey, that's ever happened to me." 

Warrick's fingers gently caressed the outside of her panties, her squirming not enough to dislodge his hand this time. He knew he was pushing the limits, he could see her contemplating throwing away all of her skirts so she wouldn't get aroused in public like this ever again, and he could see her nipples hardening slightly through her shirt, "Cath, move in with me. I want you and Lindsey to move into my house with me. We spend the majority of time together anyway, it's pointless for us to rent two separate homes when we could just share one. I love you, I love Lindsey, I want to be with both of you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." 

"Oh, Warrick!" Catherine gasped, turning to face him, her arousal forgotten as tears shone in her eyes, "Oh, I'd love to. Of course we'd move in with you, but, are you sure you're ready for this? I mean, with Lindsey it's not going to be the same as you living alone, or even us living as lovers..." 

Warrick let his lips brush against hers, whispering huskily into her ear, "We can be parents and lovers, Catherine, I want you and everything that comes with you, even if that means being a parental figure to Lindsey, or a friend, whatever you want me to be to her. I know you two come together, I could never forget about her, and she's a blast to have around," He smiled at Catherine, winking, "Who else would play X-Box with me? We all know you are awful at those skateboarding games, and Lindsey's almost as good as Nick and Greg." 

"Now that it's settled...why don't we head over to _our_ place and finish what you've started?" Catherine asked, finishing her wine and placing the glass on the table as Warrick threw a few bills down, following her quickly to the car. 

Greg watched as Sara's mouth opened and shut, obviously at a complete loss for words. After a few moments of hesitation, she whispered, "Greg...I don't know what to say to you." 

"I know, it was stupid of me to think we could be more than friends. I'm sorry, don't hold it against me." Greg said softly, shaking his head and standing, "I should go." 

"No!" Sara exclaimed, "It's not that. We could be more, we can be more, than just friends, but right now just isn't the time. You're my best friend, I couldn't stand to lose you, but I'm not ready for any sort of romance right now. There's just too much going on, I don't think I could take it. Please, don't be angry, don't leave." 

Greg shook his head, embarrassment filling his body, tears stinging his eyes, "We'll always be friends, but I think we need some time apart right now, I need to clear my head, you probably do too. I'm sorry I started this, I should have kept my mouth shut. I'll come by tomorrow, okay?" 

Before Sara could answer him, he had walked out of her room and she could hear him gathering his things. Moments later, the front door shut and Sara was left wondering what the hell had just happened. 

Greg ran down the flight of stairs and to his car, tears stinging his eyes, his heart racing. Had he really just suggested to Sara that they pursue a relationship? Had be been that stupid to bring it up when she was vulnerable and in an emotional battle? What was he trying to do, make her suicidal? How could he have been so stupid, was his "appropriate timing" censor turned off in his brain? And in the middle of the night! In her bed! What had he done? All of the effort they had put in their friendship, all of the bonding, the tears, the laughter, the fear, that one moment may have very well destroyed it. 

He had cornered her, he knew better. He knew she didn't react well to being cornered. She'd probably shut him out, lash out at him, and withdraw from everyone until all of their pent up emotions turned into a huge, drag out, let-the-whole-building-know fight. Why had he even opened his mouth? 

He peeled out of the parking lot, blinded by his tears, wishing more than anything he hadn't made an ass out of himself to his best friend, the woman he might actually love. 

He made it home in record time, slamming his door behind him and sinking onto the couch with a loud moan, his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands. He opened his mouth, put her on the spot, then walked out on her. He was turning into one of those men he hated. No wonder he hadn't had a girlfriend in ages, he made enough of a fool out of himself with his best friend. 

Picking up the phone, he did the only thing he could think of to do. 

"Hello?" a female voice answered, obviously irritated at being interrupted in whatever it was she had been doing. 

Greg felt a smile tug on his lips, he hadn't heard her voice in weeks, it was exactly what he needed, "Hey, it's Greg." 

"Oh my God! Greg! I've been worried sick about you, I've called your apartment every day, twice a day, for the last week! Where the hell have you been?" The voice shrieked, the worry evident. 

Despite the fact that he was definitely in trouble with her, he couldn't help but smile as he pictured her face lit up with emotion. Everyone he worked with on a daily basis had a knack for controlling their emotions, and sometimes he missed the energetic, feisty younger sister he left back home once he moved to Vegas. 

"Kayla, calm down," Greg said in a soothing voice, "I'm not interrupting you, am I?" 

Kayla's voice was even louder this time, although the worry had been replaced with a bit of resentment, "Calm down? Are you honestly telling me to calm down? What the hell is wrong with you, Greg? You drop off the face of the planet and don't even call to let me know you're going to disappear? I've been worried sick! If it hadn't been for finals, I would have hopped on a plane to Vegas, just to kick your ass! What the hell happened?" In a softer, more concerned voice, she added, "You don't sound good. Are you okay?" 

"I had an...altercation...on one of my cases." He sighed, "I'm fine, just a minor concussion, a few bumps and bruises, a broken nose. I've been staying with a friend. Sorry I didn't call, things have been crazy, I lost track of the time." 

Kayla shuffled with the phone a bit, and Greg assumed it was to get away from the family. He had heard his mother's voice in the background, and he knew Kayla well enough to know their conversations were something she always kept private, "I'm glad you're okay...stayed with a friend, huh? Nick or Sara?" 

"Sara," Greg replied with another heavy sigh, "Oh, Kayla, I screwed up this time. Not just a little screw up, this is worse than when I broke it to Mom I was moving away. And instead of being a man and facing her afterwards, I bolted like a scared little boy." 

Kayla groaned, feeling sympathetic towards her older brother. She had been his sounding board for years, since he moved away, and knew all of the sordid details about his feelings for Sara. "Screwed up like telling her you fantasize about her at night? Screwed up on a case with her? Or screwed up like telling her you loved her?" 

"It would be closer to the last one. I asked if she wanted to be more than just best friends. And she looked floored, I mean, Kay, she looked like a deer in the headlights. She told me she didn't know what to say, and I got embarrassed, so I told her I was sorry and left." Greg moaned, "I think I'm more emotionally and socially brain dead than Grissom right now." 

Kayla spoke again, and this time Greg was surprised to hear she sounded so much mature than when he usually spoke to her. "Greggo, you're not emotionally brain dead, you were scared. You've never been in a serious relationship before, and you don't know where your boundaries are. You let your feelings get hurt before you knew what she was thinking, yes, but that doesn't make you stupid, it makes you inexperienced. You need to talk to her." 

"Are you sure you're only 23? What happened to my baby sister?" Greg asked with a slight laugh, his insides shaking. He'd have to talk to Sara, Kayla was right. How was he going to talk to her about his feelings when he knew she didn't want to return them? She wasn't ready for a romantic relationship, but would she be ready to hear him out? Would she be mad at him for leaving? Would she feel comfortable being so open with him again? 

Kayla sighed, "Greg, you know I'm right. You just need to sit her down and tell her everything. Make it clear before you start that you have no expectations, that you just want to clear your chest, and when you're through, she will respect you more for being open with her. If you're sure she's what you want, you have to go for it. I don't want you to be miserable for the rest of your life, just because you didn't have the balls to stand up and seize the day." 

"I know." Greg sighed, "You're right. I'll talk to her. You're the best, Kayla." 

"I know I am," She replied with a laugh, "You can make it up to me by letting me stay at your apartment for a week during vacation, and being my tour guide while I'm there." 

Rolling his eyes, Greg knew he was going to be in trouble with Kayla tagging along. He wondered how mad she'd get if he told his Mom she was planning on visiting him. That would be enough to get her put under house arrest, despite her age, for the fear that they'd lose another precious child to "Sin City". 

After hanging up, he knew that he'd have to visit Sara and talk things through. Leaning his head back, he began to think of all the things he wanted to tell her, and began to formulate a plan on how he was going to approach this. 

Sara laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Greg was gone, the apartment was quiet, and she was scared. Scared to be alone without knowing if Jimmy's partners were out looking for her, scared that she messed up her friendship with Greg, scared that she was alone with her own thoughts and worries. She had gotten so used to Greg's presence, that now she longed to have him there. Her sheets and pillow still smelled like him, and she buried her head in his pillow to try and pretend he was still there. 

She had almost drifted of to sleep again, emotional nights tended to make her insomnia go away, when there was a knock on the door. Slightly alarmed, she crept to the door, standing on her tip toes to see who was at her door. 

"Oh, Nick." She sighed with relief, opening the door for him and allowing him to enter, "I was scared to death. I'm so glad it's you." 

"I'm sorry to just pop in," Nick said apologetically, "But I wanted to let you know in person that we've finished the case with the Governor's reception. We had Trey in custody, as you know, and he gave us the names of two of their accomplices, who confessed as soon as Brass started dishing it to them. Ecklie let Grissom know that your internal investigation is complete, you can come back to work next shift." 

He noticed the tears in her eyes, and he held his arms out, pulling her into a hug, "What's wrong, honey?" 

"Honey?" Sara sobbed, pulling back slightly to look at his flushed face, "Oh, Nick, I can't get into it with you, it's about Greg...I think I lost him as a friend tonight. I don't know what to do, I need him." 

Nick led her to the couch, his insides burning with jealousy as she told him how much she needed Greg. He tried to push his jealousy aside, concentrating on the run down woman in front of him, "How did you lose him as a friend? Greg's loyal, Sara, he'll bounce back if you've had a fight. He's like a puppy, he'll always come running back to you. I don't think there's anything you can do to run him off." 

"I came close to having a nervous breakdown, I caught him having a nightmare, and then I pulled a 'Grissom', by telling him I didn't know what to say when he told me he had feelings for me." Sara said bluntly, trying to stop the tears flowing down her face, "And he rushed out of here like I was trying to kill him." 

"It's no secret Greg likes you," Nick soothed, holding her tightly, "What's not to like? You're a beautiful, smart, independent woman, and any guy would be lucky to have you. You probably just shook him up, you know how it feels to open your heart and not having the sentiment returned. Give him some time...until you make amends, I'll be your 'Greg stand-in', anything he would do for you, I can do." 

Sara smiled, still upset over Greg, but feeling a bit better knowing that she still had a friend on her side, her heart warm knowing Nick cared enough to worry this much about her. Sometimes it was wonderful to have friends who loved you so much. She looked at him with hopeful eyes, "You'd even have an ice cream/popcorn binge with me?" 

"Your wish is my command." Nick replied, forcing the sleepiness that had set over his body like a dense fog to lift. He had to be strong for Sara, give her the support she needed, she had been through enough, and she needed a friend. Besides, the few moments they would spend together this morning would give him a month's worth of pleasant dreams, "Pick out a movie and I'll get the junk food." 

The phone rang while Sara was in the process of getting a movie picked out. She called out over her shoulder, noticing that the cordless phone was on it's cradle in the hallway, "Nick, could you grab that? It's probably just Grissom telling me about work tomorrow." 

Nick picked up the cordless, holding it in place with his shoulder as he grabbed the ice cream, pressing the 'start' button on the microwave. "Sidle residence. Hello?" He was met with silence, and he asked again, "Hello? Is anyone there?" 

There was a soft click, and Nick in turn hung up the phone, calling out to Sara, "It must have been a wrong number, whoever it was hung up." 

"Okay!" Sara called back, "I've got the movie ready, how's the food coming?" 

"I'll just be a few more seconds!" Nick called out as the microwave beeped, signaling the popcorn was finished, "Want a beer?" 

Across town, Greg placed the phone in it's cradle, hurt and confusion written on his face, as he whispered, "Nick?", a single tear falling down his cheek. 

Warrick and Catherine laid in bed, with nothing on but the sheet, enjoying the silence while they held each other, the only noise being their light breathing. 

"I love you." Warrick said softly, rolling onto his side and letting their lips meet again, "I never thought I could love someone this much." 

Catherine smiled, resting her head against his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around him, "I had always thought I loved Eddie more than any other man, but with you, it's so much different. You make me feel so safe, so protected...like nothing bad could ever happen to me. You know, I had heard that you were a ladies man, but I never really pictured it...now I know, you do have a way of being smooth. I can't believe we're moving in together." 

"I'm so relieved that you said yes." Warrick admitted, "I knew we were serious, but I had been worried that we weren't on the same page with everything. I'm glad to know that you and Lindsey are going to be my family, I couldn't ask for more." 

Catherine's lips met his, but only briefly, as her cell phone began to ring. She lazily brought it to her ear, "Willows." 

Moments later, she shot up into a sitting position, "Where are you? What happened? Did you call the police? I'll be right there." 

She hung up the phone, sliding out of bed and hastily getting dressed, "That was my sister, she went to get Lindsey up for school and she wasn't in bed. She's gone...we've got to get over there, now." 

Before Catherine had finished, Warrick was up and dressed as well, grabbing his keys as they bolted out of the bedroom door. 

_TBC, if you want to know what happens next, drop me a line and tell me!_


	8. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer:** I own a copy of this week's TV guide, which has some CSI pictures, but that's about it. 

**Author's notes: ** Not much to say...I really appreciate **all** of the replies I got for the last chapter, you guys keep me writing, even when I'm just running on fumes. A special thanks to Emmithar and Ravyn, because Emmithar keeps me awake with her stories (after working a shift and a half and going to class), which then promotes insomnia and then writing, even though I know I must be awake again in 4 hours. And Ravyn's reply made me decide to continue with this story, even though I was thinking of starting a new one. _All in all, everyone's replies keep me going and forbid me from losing interest until this is complete. You guys are great!_

Speaking of complete, I'm only predicting 2 more chapters... 

Please read and reply, and maybe I'll be able to get another chapter out by the start of the weekend. 

_Jenny_

**Eight:**

"What do you mean you don't know what happened? Where she is? Didn't you hear her leave? Didn't Rory tell you when she woke up that Lindsey wasn't in bed? Don't you keep the sliding lock shut at night, something she can't even reach?" Lindsey asked, her voice rising with panic and frustration, feeling like wanting to throttle her sister. 

Warrick placed his hands on Catherine's shoulders, somehow knowing she was about to jump on her sister, and whispered soothingly to her, "Calm down, we need to hear what happened, we're going to find her." 

"There's no sign of forced entry." Detective Lange said, walking towards Catherine and Warrick, "Does Lindsey have any reason to want to run away? Any problems in school or at home?" 

"Of course not!" Catherine exclaimed, her eyes wide with tears, "Lindsey's a happy little girl, sure, she's had her share of problems, but she's not one to just take off without telling anyone." 

Catherine's sister spoke softly, interrupting Catherine's nearly hysterical response, "Rory says Lindsey was sleeping when she got out of bed. She and I were in my bedroom, watching cartoons, and I went to check on Lindsey, and she was gone. No, I didn't lock the sliding lock, because I know sometimes you like to come and peek in on Lindsey during the night. I checked with some of Lindsey and Rory's friends in the neighborhood, no one has seen her since last night, she can't be far." 

"I don't think this was a kidnaping, I think Lindsey just wandered off without telling anyone." Warrick said gently, pointing out Lindsey's dirty pajamas on the bedroom floor, "Her pajamas are here, her shoes aren't, her little backpack purse that she always carries is gone. She probably went outside and forgot to let an adult know. If she was taken, they wouldn't have given her time to change." 

"We've got officers looking for her, and we'll page you if we hear anything." Detective Lange said gently to Catherine. He had worked with her on several occasions and he hated to see her so distraught, "Just be glad that you're one of us, Catherine, otherwise we would have to be going through the entire process from square one. We'll have her home before nightfall." 

Greg sat on his sofa, a glass of whiskey in one hand, the bottle in the other. At the moment, he was trying to decide which he should drink out of. He had never been a heavy drinker, but when the occasion warranted it, he could out-drink any other CSI on graveyard. He had three categories of alcohol; beer was for casual and social drinking, just to have a good time, gin was for tense situations and wanting to unwind, sometimes he'd drink gin after a long or particularly heart-wrenching case, and whiskey was for the very serious situations. This classified as one of those serious situations. 

Nick had answered Sara's phone, he was at her house, taking care of her when she was upset, being the friend that Greg had become so used to being. All because he opened his big mouth, told her about his feelings for her, then took off like a scared little boy. 

As the alcohol began to work on his tired body, his mind drifted to the conversation he had with Sara before he left. She wasn't ready for a relationship...was that exclusive to him, or to all men? Did she blow him off because she had a crush on Nick? Was she afraid of how their relationship would be? They both knew it wouldn't be a problem at work, Catherine and Warrick made their relationship no secret and they were doing just fine. Was it because Nick looked at her with the same longing eyes that Greg did? Was she trying to choose? Was she trying to let him down gently? 

A third of the way through the bottle, he had worked up the courage to call her again. It had to have been a misunderstanding, or maybe something was wrong and Sara couldn't have answered the phone. Either way, he was going to talk to her, and he was going to get some answers. Taking another gulp of liquid courage, he pressed her speed dial number, leaning back against the couch cushions as he waited for an answer. 

After four rings, Nick's groggy voice answered, and Greg slammed the phone down, this time anger filling his veins instead of sadness. Flinging the phone across his living room, cord and all, not caring if he ripped the wires from the wall, not caring that he made a dent in the wall, not caring that his phone would now not work. He was livid, his entire body trembling with rage. Deep inside, he knew that most of his emotion was from the whiskey, but that part of his brain quickly stopped functioning as he took a swig from the bottle in his hand, slamming that down on the coffee table and stumbling to the counter to grab his wallet and keys. He was going to go to Sara's and see what was going on, and nothing was going to stop him. 

Nick rotated his head, trying to crack his neck, his entire body stiff from falling asleep on the sofa. Sara laid curled in a ball next to him, a thick quilt covering both of them, her brown hair spilled out of her ponytail and covering the small couch cushion she was using as a pillow. He stretched and shook her gently, "Sara? Wake up, Sara!" 

Sara blinked open her eyes and stifled a yawn, "I fell asleep?" 

"We both did, the movie's over." He brushed a hair from her face, "Look, I know you need a friend, but I've really got to get home. I'd love to stay, but we both need rest, in our beds, before work tonight and it's already close to noon." 

Sara stifled a yawn, standing up and twisting her back, trying to work out the kinks in her muscles, "I'm okay, thanks for staying with me. It meant a lot to know I can still count on you." 

"You can always count on me, Sar," Nick said softly, giving her a tight hug, "Don't worry about Greg, he'll come around and things will get back to normal. Just remember that you want to keep him as a friend, even if you don't want to date him. He'll understand, he's a good man. If he's still avoiding you tonight, I'll talk to him, okay?" 

Sara let her eyes close as she tried not to melt in the warmth of his hug, "Thanks Nicky, you're the best. Catherine would have me over there talking to him right now, you know that right?" 

"And that's the reason that I stayed with you." Nick laughed, grabbing his car keys and walking to the door, "Get some sleep, I'll see you in a few hours. I'll call you if we decide to get dinner before shift, to see if you're interested." 

Sara thanked him again and locked the door behind him. Yawning loudly, she grabbed the quilt from the sofa and pulled it behind her as she staggered into her bedroom, asleep not long after her head hit the pillow, which still smelled an awful lot like Greg. 

Catherine and Warrick drove down Winchester Avenue for what felt like the billionth time in the last 4 hours, when, in all actuality, it had was only the 25th or 26th. They had been circling a three mile radius around Catherine's sister's house since the detective had left, making a loop towards Lindsey's school once every hour, trying to find any indication that Lindsey had been in the area. 

Warrick was just about to suggest they widen their search area when Catherine exclaimed, "There! On the sidewalk, that's Lindsey's change purse." 

Warrick pulled over and Catherine jumped out of the car, rushing over to where the change purse laid, the snap that fastened it to Lindsey's backpack broken. Warrick shook his head, putting a hand on Catherine's trembling arm, "It looks like it just fell off, I'm sure she's fine. We know she was here, let's branch out a few miles in this direction." 

"Where do you think she's going?" Catherine wondered, shivering despite the hot, stifling air outside, "She doesn't have any friends in this area, our house and the office is the other way, her school's back towards CSI...what is she thinking?" 

Warrick narrowed his eyes, turning in a complete circle while focusing on every object he could see. All of a sudden, a triumphant grin broke across his face, "Get in the car, I think I know where she went." 

Moments later, they were pulling up to Fountain Memorial Cemetery, where in the distance, they could see Lindsey's blonde head laying against a marble tombstone. 

Catherine jumped out of the car, running to Lindsey and shouting her name. When she finally reached her daughter, she noticed the tear marks on her 10 year old daughter's face, "Oh, sweetie. I was so worried about you, you can't just sneak off like that!" 

"I wanted to see Daddy," Lindsey sobbed, her voice slightly muffled by Catherine's shirt, "You told me I could come see him whenever I wanted to, and when we came yesterday after dinner, you were already at work, and we only stayed for a few minutes because Rory had a tummy ache, and we had to go, and I didn't want to go, I wanted to see Daddy. I miss Daddy." 

Catherine stroked Lindsey's hair as she sobbed, torn between wanting to yell and punish Lindsey for taking off without telling anyone, for putting herself in danger, for walking nearly 3 miles to the cemetery at her young age, but on the other hand, listening to Lindsey's heart wrenching sobs broke her heart all over again, the pain over losing Eddie had been bad enough, but Lindsey's pain was a million times worse. 

She lifted Lindsey, despite her age, and held on to her tightly, "I'm so sorry you miss him, baby, I know how hard it is for you. And I'm sorry that you didn't get to spend a lot of time here last night, but sweetie, he's always in your heart, you don't have to come here to connect with him." 

"Did you love Daddy?" Lindsey asked, pulling away, her sobs now just loud sniffles and gasps, "When he died?" 

Catherine held Lindsey tighter, "I loved him enough to marry him, and he gave me you, and I love you more than anything, so of course I loved him." 

"I'm sorry I scared you." Lindsey whispered softly, her breathing ragged as a fresh wave of tears began, "Don't be mad at me Momma." 

Catherine rubbed Lindsey's back, closing her eyes and sighing, so relieved to have her daughter in her arms, so relieved that none of the awful scenarios she had imagined had come true. "Lindsey, I was worried sick, I thought someone had taken you, you could have been hit by a car, you could have gotten hurt or lost and we wouldn't have been able to find you! I was scared to death. If you ever, ever do that again, I'll punish you for the rest of your life, do you hear me?" She squeezed Lindsey a little tighter, not wanting to let her daughter go, "We're going to go home and have a long talk about this, do you understand me?" 

Lindsey nodded, picking up her purse and placing a few yellow flowers she had picked from her Aunt's garden on the grave, "Bye Daddy." 

Cather fought tears as she led Lindsey to Warrick's car. Lindsey turned to Catherine, her eyes wide, "How come Uncle Warrick's with you?" 

"Umm..." Catherine looked at Warrick, her eyes wide with alarm, "Uncle Warrick and Mommy are dating, you know that." 

Lindsey nodded, her arms folded across her chest, "But why is he here now?" 

"He was helping me look for you." Catherine said, opening the car door for Lindsey, "We had your Aunt and your Grandma looking for you, the police looking for you, Uncle Grissom looking for you. Warrick was with me when I found out you weren't at your aunt's house." 

Lindsey nodded, her lips pressed tightly together as she obviously concentrated on her thoughts, "So, when are you getting married?" 

Her innocent question had Catherine and Warrick both spitting their coffee out in surprise, their eyes connecting with each other's, then with Lindsey's. 

"It's just the three of us tonight." Grissom said as he handed Sara and Nick each a slip of paper, "Catherine and Warrick spent the day looking for Lindsey, who left Catherine's sister's house this morning without telling anyone. Lindsey's fine, but Catherine and Warrick are exhausted, so I told them to stay home. I've been trying to call Greg all afternoon, but he isn't answering or returning my calls," He turned to Sara, "Wasn't he staying with you?" 

Sara nodded, taking a sip of her coffee, "Until last night, he was. We had a long night last night, he probably overslept." She didn't want to admit it to Nick or Grissom, but she felt a surge of panic whenever Greg's name was mentioned. She couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong, he had promised to call her or drop by, but he hadn't, and he wasn't returning her phone calls either. She knew he was upset about what happened the previous night, but she didn't think he'd be petty enough to shut everyone else out. 

Grissom nodded, sighing, "Well, we're short handed until he comes in. I'll continue calling and paging him. Nick, you've got a suspicious circs in the Orleans hotel. Sara, decomp found near Lake Mead. I'll be working an armed robbery at a jewelry store off the strip, no fatalities, some critical condition. Page me if you need me." His pager started to buzz as it vibrated against the table, and looking at it, he hurried out of the room. 

"My first night back, and I'm stuck with a decomp." Sara moaned to Nick, "Where's Greg when you need him? 

Greg. Just mentioning his name sent a shiver up her spine. She'd have to try and call him again. Maybe even stop by his apartment...it was only a few miles out of the way, and her decomp wasn't going to spring back to life anytime soon. A half hour or so wouldn't really make the stench any worse. 

"I'm going to run by Greg's apartment and see if I can recruit him for assistance." Sara said as they walked into the parking lot together. "Nothing to bring two friends closer like decomposing flesh and melting body fat." 

Nick smirked, "I know you just want to check up on him, and I'm all for it. Not calling in is odd for Greg. Call me and let me know he's okay." He shouted after her as she walked past him to her own vehicle, "Oh, and Sara?" 

"What?" She responded, turning from her door to look back at him. 

Nick flashed her a huge grin, "Don't forget to bring some lemons back with you, so the whole building doesn't have to suffer from your case." 

"You know what Nick?" Sara asked back, a smirk on her face, "Kiss my ass, okay?" 

Nick raised his eyebrows, making kissing noises and causing Sara to roll her eyes and unlock her door. Guys, they were just so immature. She glanced at the clock, pulling out her cell phone and dialing Greg's apartment number. Busy signal. She tried his cell phone, no answer. "He's probably on the internet." She sighed, deciding to drive to his apartment, just to make sure. 

_To Be continued, if you'd like..I'm easily bribed with replies..._


	9. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anyone, but I'd love any one of them as a present. Mother's day is coming up soon, I wonder if Meghan has enough money saved up in her piggy bank to score me a CSI hunk? 

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for the replies, I'm glad you're willing to bribe me. This may suck, I was going for 'deep', but then again, I've worked three days with only 4 hours of sleep, and now when I've got the perfect opportunity to grab a little shut eye, my sister keeps IM-ing me about her latest workplace drama. Speaking of workplace drama, I get to work in the ME's office starting Monday (except on the days I have class, then it's going to be back to the lab's guinea pig) and after the semester's over, I'm going to be working there full time. I don't know how to react to the promotion, as much as I'd love to deny it, autopsies give me the heebie jeebies. It is an 8 to 6 job though, on salary, so who am I to complain? 

Anyway, the point of that ramble was to point out that I am sleepy, this was written with distractions from a hysterical younger sibling, I'm coming off of a 18 hour shift, and it's not quite what I planned on. Good news for anyone interested, the new turn I decided to take might mean a sequel to this sequel. 

Here you go, the second to last chapter...I'm off to watch tonight's CSI. 

_Jenny_

**Nine:**

Sara pulled into the parking lot of Greg's apartment building, spotting his car in the parking spot in front of his apartment. Whew, that was one worry down. Now all she had to do was make sure he was okay, inside of his apartment. He had probably just overslept...but she wanted to see him, just to be sure. 

She didn't expect to find him passed out at the steering wheel of his car, drool running in a thin line from his mouth onto the black leather steering wheel cover, his hair messy, the same clothes he wore the day before still on his body. 

She rapped quietly on the window, not getting an answer. Sighing, she pulled the handle and was shocked by the overpowering smell of alcohol that flooded her nostrils. Glancing to the passenger seat, she noticed the nearly finished bottle of whiskey. 

She walked a few steps away, dialing Nick's number and waiting impatiently for him to answer. 

"Stokes," Came his short greeting, "How is he?" 

Sara glanced back at Greg, who still hadn't stirred, and was relieved to see him breathing normally. At least he was alive. "He's going to have a massive hangover, that's for sure. Can you see if someone can cover for me, I want to handle things here?" 

"I'll see if Cath or Warrick can come in. I'll let you know. Hit him upside the head for me, will you?" Nick replied, worry and frustration evident in his voice, "Don't take too long, I don't want to get pulled into the middle of this if Grissom finds out and it hits the fan." 

Sara told him she'd just be an hour or so, and proceeded to shove her phone into her pocket, shaking Greg's shoulder roughly, "Greg! Time to wake up, okay?" 

"Go away." Greg mumbled, not even blinking open his eyes. A few seconds later, he was starting to snore. 

Sara shook him again, this time following Nick's advice and giving him a hard smack against the back of his head, which pushed him further into the steering wheel, "Hey!" He shouted, wincing at his own voice, as he flew back, sitting straight and looking around wearily, "Where am I?" 

"In your parking lot, silly," Sara said softly, having been on the receiving end of enough nasty hangovers to know to keep it quiet, "Lets get you inside and in bed, okay?" 

Greg tried to focus on Sara, instead of the tiny dots that were clouding his vision, but was unable to do so. Was she really here, or was this some crazy alcohol induced dream? And if she was here, where was Nick? And why was it so dark outside? He swung his legs out of the vehicle, standing wobbly and accepting the assistance she offered. As soon as his body was vertical, however, he doubled over and vomited on the cement, holding the car door for support with one hand, Sara's arm with the other. 

Sara groaned, trying to support the majority of his weight as he retched again, diverting her eyes and wishing she would have sent one of the guys to check on Greg. He had probably been drinking _because_ of her, and the last thing he probably needed was to have her with him, right now, when he was vulnerable. She knew he had to be embarrassed, hell, she was embarrassed for him. She had made an ass out of herself in front of dates, and men she hoped she would date, before, and she knew how humiliating and awful it was. 

"You done?" She asked after a few minutes, once the awful noises had stopped and his grip on her loosened a bit, "You okay?" 

Greg nodded, his eyes halfway closed, as he shut his car door, slowly stumbling towards his apartment, "I'm okay, you can go." 

"I'm not going anywhere until I'm sure you're alright." Sara insisted, a look of fierce determination on her face. Awkward or not, he was her best friend, and she wasn't going to leave him in this condition. She was tempted to call Nick and see if Warrick or Catherine could cover the whole shift, but thought better of it. They had been through a lot today as well, and it probably wouldn't go over too well with them or with Grissom. 

Sara made sure he was comfortable on the couch, then went into the kitchen to get some Aspirin and a glass of water. She handed both to Greg, instructing him to drink as much of the water as he could tolerate, since it would help flush out the alcohol and ward off the hangover that was sure to follow that severe of a drinking binge. 

"You know what works better than medicine and water?" Greg asked, a goofy smile still on his face, "A beer to chase the hangover away." 

"You can't stay drunk forever," Sara said softly, sitting opposite of him and squeezing his hand, "I'm sorry I hurt you." 

Greg shrugged, diverting his eyes so she couldn't see the shame reflecting in them, "It's okay. You didn't hurt me...you didn't tell me anything I didn't need to hear. You can't control your feelings." 

Sara remained silent for a few moments, hearing the slight tremble in Greg's voice and trying to think of the right thing to say, "No, I suppose I can't...but Greg, I didn't mean that I couldn't love you, or we couldn't be more than friends, I was just saying that right now I can't focus on a relationship." She squeezed his hand, "You know how crazy I am on a normal day, don't you? Could you imagine that all the time? At home, at work? Intensified by like a million?" 

Despite the shame and sadness he felt, Greg felt a smile tug on his lips, "And when you're PMSing..." 

"Exactly." Sara said with a soft laugh, "Greg, I don't want to do anything that could interfere with our friendship. I know we have a special relationship, we have had it for awhile, and you're the one person I always feel comfortable around," she paused with a wry smile, "Well, up until about 24 hours ago." 

She took a deep breath, pulling him into a tight hug, "I can't imagine not being your friend right now, in ten years, in fifty years, and I'm worried that if we do take things to another level, and the relationship doesn't work out, we'll lose our friendship, and I don't think I could have made it through the last year without you and Cath, especially you though, I'd die without having you as my friend." 

"What if it did work out, and we'd never know because you were too scared to take the risk?" Greg asked, sobering up with her words, "What if you threw away a chance for love because you were planning too far ahead. Sara, life is short, it can end at any time, you've got to live in the moment." 

Sara shook her head, looking down at her hands, which had started to tremble, "Greg, this is what I'm talking about. I've got issues to work through before I can make any relationship successful. It's not just you, Greg, any relationship." 

Greg looked as if he was going to retort with his own argument, but Sara cut him off, speaking again, "I'll make you a deal, okay? I'll work through my trust issues, and we'll go see a few movies. We'll see what happens, if a relationship blooms, I won't do anything to hinder it. If we decide to remain friends, I won't hold the relationship idea against you," She drew in a deep breath, her voice shaking, "That's all I can offer, Greg, I know it's not really what you want to hear, but it's all I've got." 

"You never told me what happened when you were growing up, to make you like this." Greg said, gesturing a hand at Sara's trembling frame, "And I can only imagine, it must have been awful, whatever it was. But if that's all you have to offer me, I'll take anything I can get. Slow and steady, right?" 

Sara nodded, furiously wiping away her tears, "I'm sorry I'm so screwed up." 

"I'm sorry I make you this way." Greg replied, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his chest, "I'm sorry I didn't stay to talk last night, I'm sorry I drank 2/3 of a bottle of whiskey." He decided to leave out the part where he called twice and Nick answered the phone. Anything that would push her away at this point would definitely wait until a later day. 

Sara shook her head sadly, "You didn't make me this way, I've been this way for 20 years. I just wish I could offer you more." 

"I like you just the way you are, quirks and all." Greg quipped, tightening the hug and planting a soft kiss on the top of her head, "Not to change the subject, but aren't you supposed to be working?" 

Sara pulled back and stared at him in surprise, she hadn't had a chance to tell him she was back on the team, her inquiry had been resolved. He motioned to her attire, which consisted of brown slacks, a beige top, and her LVPD vest, and she blushed slightly, "Apparently Gris didn't make you a CSI for no reason. They wrapped up the case last night, Nick came by to let me know, we were waiting on you tonight, but I'm guessing you're going to call in." 

"I think I'd just be a risk tonight." Greg said with a half-smile, "I'm wiped, I should get to bed." 

Sara nodded, handing him the glass of water he had placed on the table, "Finish this, I'll start some coffee, and you go take a nap. When you wake up, you'll have a hot cup of Blue Hawaiian waiting for you, and I'll come by in the morning to make sure you're okay. No more drinking, am I clear?" 

"Crystal." Greg replied, shuffling into his bedroom, "Oh, and Sara?" 

Sara turned around to stare at Greg from the entry to the kitchen, "Yeah?" 

"When you bend over, I can see all the way down your shirt. Watch it with the officers tonight, okay?" Greg teased, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Sara rolled her eyes, "It's a decomp, I'm sure not too many people will be hanging around the crime scene." 

"Thank God I'm calling in sick." Greg groaned, his face paling considerably. "I hate decomps." 

Sara nodded in understanding, "Believe me, we're on the same page with that." 

Catherine turned the lamp off in Lindsey's room, blowing Lindsey a kiss and whispering 'good night' to the nearly sleeping girl. 

"See you in the morning, Mommy." Lindsey said sleepily, "I love you." 

Catherine leaned her head against the door frame, gazing tiredly at her daughter, "I love you too, sweetie, I'll be here to get you ready for school." 

She closed the door and tiredly stumbled into her bedroom, falling backwards onto the bed and staring at the ceiling, "Where does she get the energy?" 

"I think it's genetic, you've been awake for 30 hours, you know." Warrick pointed out, rolling her onto her stomach as he began to massage her back, "She was so thrilled to have you home, I think she was postponing bedtime as much as she could." 

"I think working tonight would have been less exhausting." Catherine mumbled into her pillow, moaning softly as he came to a particularly tense spot in her back, "I forgot how hyper kids are." 

Warrick chuckled softly, "I'd much rather be here with you, than stuck with Grissom somewhere. And I think we should head straight into bed." 

"To sleep, or to do other things?" 

"Definitely other things." Warrick grinned, "Burn off the last bit of energy we have, that way we know we'll have a good night's sleep." 

Catherine grinned, despite her resolve to keep a straight face, and rolled onto her back, pulling him down for a kiss. Just as he started to fumble with the button on her pants, her cell phone started to ring. 

She muttered a string of curse words as she answered with a short, "Willows." 

"Catherine, it's Nick. I'm sorry to bother you, I know you've had a long day, but Sara needs your help." Nick said quickly, knowing that she'd be willing to help Sara, they had established a pretty strong bond over the last few months. 

Catherine sat up, pushing Warrick's roaming hands away, "What's wrong with Sara?" 

Nick sighed, "She and Greg had a fight last night, and he didn't show up for work tonight. She found him passed out, drunk, in his car and she's held up for a bit trying to get him situated. She's got a db at Lake Mead, and she's going to be tied up for at least a few hours. Think you could head over there and start on it for her?" He neglected telling her it was a decomp, he knew she'd refuse if she knew that bit of information. 

"I really want to, Nick, but by the time I take a shower and get over there, she'll probably be on her way. Besides, it's just Warrick and I here with Lindsey, and we've all had a really rough day. I'll call Sara and apologize, but it's not a good idea. Does Grissom even know what you two are trying to do?" Nick's silence confirmed her answer, and she continued, "Look, you go ahead with your case, and I'll let Grissom know that Sara's going to be late at Lake Mead." 

Nick thanked her and they hung up, Catherine groaning as Warrick ran his hand up her thigh, just as she was dialing Grissom's number. "Stop it, give me a few minutes," Catherine hissed, quieting as Grissom picked up, "Grissom." 

"Gil, it's Catherine. I just wanted to give you a heads up, Sara stopped by Greg's apartment to check on him, and he's...er, sick...and she's getting him settled before heading out to her scene. She'll probably be an hour or so later than she was planning on getting there." 

She hung up before Grissom had a chance to ask any questions or make any sort of comments, rolling over and pinning Warrick down on the bed, lowering her head for a deep kiss, "Now, where were we?" 

Warrick had just pulled Catherine's shirt off and was working on her bra when there was a soft knock on the door, "Mommy? My ears hurt." 

Catherine scrambled off of Warrick, tossing her shirt back on and throwing the covers over Warrick, who's jeans were unbuttoned and unzipped, showing off his blue boxers, his chest bare. She hastily buttoned her own pants, opening the door with a look of concern, trying to conceal the lustful flush she knew still lingered on her face. 

"What's Uncle Warrick still doing here?" Lindsey asked sleepily, "Mom, my ears hurt and my head hurts. Can I sleep in here with you?" 

Sara arrived back at the lab, running straight into Nick, sending the items in both of their arms flying, mixed together on the floor. 

"At least I'll be able to tell which ones are yours, you reek, girl." Nick said, making a face, "Decomp, alright." 

"Bite me." Sara replied, sorting through the various papers and bags and scooping up hers, "No one asked you, anyway." She started to walk away, but turned back in Nick's direction, "Oh, and Nick? Brass has a few questions for you...you're familiar with a Travis Leblanc, right?" 

Nick's face paled dramatically, and he steadied himself against the wall as the room dramatically shifted, "Why?" 

"I thought so." Sara sighed, "I was really hoping it was a different Travis Leblanc." 

"What...what does my sister's husband have to do with anything?" Nick asked, his voice trembling with worry and anger. It was no secret that he had wanted to fly to Dallas and kick that slimebag's ass after he had roughed up Karen a few months earlier. "Did my parents call? Karen?" 

Sara shook her head sadly, "No, Nicky, Travis Leblanc was my decomp at Lake Mead." 

Despite the anger and hatred he had bottled up against Travis for the last few months, he couldn't help but start to cry as he heard that his brother-in-law was dead, someone who had been in his life for years, part of his own family, as far as he had been concerned a year ago. What was more upsetting than his death was that no one had even told him Travis was missing, which could only mean one thing. The Stokes family was knee deep in whatever happened to the estranged in-law. 

He accepted Sara's embrace, even though she smelled like death herself, sobbing onto her shoulder, anger, worry, and guilt all flooding through his body in the form of tears. 

They stood in an embrace, in the middle of the hallway, for nearly 10 minutes, until Brass walked up to the pair and tapped Nick on the arm, "Come on, I need to have a word with you." 

Flashing him a sympathetic smile, Sara offered to handle his paperwork and evidence for him, letting Nick know she'd be in autopsy if he needed anything. 

Walking behind Brass with trembling hands, Nick learned what it felt like to be on the other side of the metal table. 

_I loved the bribes, keep them coming..._


	10. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. And I have nothing witty to say. 

**Author's Notes**: Okay, I planned on this being the last chapter, but the story didn't like that idea, so there's going to be one more after this. Blame Nick and his stupid in-law getting murdered. Yes, I plan on doing another story, for reasons you will see in the chapter following this, although if there's no interest, I may start a new idea working through my head. 

I didn't plan on singling any one reviewer out, but Emmithar was my inspiration for writing tonight (when I just planned on making cookies for dinner and watching TV until I fell asleep) and I wanted to thank her for the bribe that actually got me off of my butt. I have to admit, she'd probably do a better job with this story than I am! Just to let you know, girl, I actually wrote Greg throwing the part about Nick in the conversation, but as my mind worked on a sequel, I decided some things are better left unsaid for the moment. Congrats on your promotion, sorry things have been tough, but they all work out in the end. Sounds like you've got a good career waiting for you. 

As for the question on where I work and what I do...I work for the Parish Sheriff's office. Since I'm still in school (double majoring for my second and third BS), I've been mostly training and getting hands on experience and getting an overview of the different positions in the sheriff's office. I've done beat patrol work, I've worked as a guard at the jail, booking, very minor narc work, just about anything you can do, I've either done or shadowed. I'll be graduating in the summer, and I've taken a job at the ME's office, learning about autopsies deciding if I want to go into that (even more schooling) or something more lab oriented. I've been working in the Acadiana crime lab off and on for awhile now, doing grunt work like research and experiments (which isn't as fun as it sounds), so this is an exciting change. Of course, I've only seen 7 dead bodies, ever, so I may change my mind. But for an 8,000 per year raise, who's to argue? 

I've rambled enough, I tend to do that when I've worked from 3 AM to 9 PM... Please leave a note on your way out! 

_Jenny_

**Ten:**

"All I'm saying is that she's completely asleep, and I don't think she's going to be going waking up any time soon. If we go downstairs, fool around a bit in the living room, she probably wouldn't even know the difference." Warrick whispered in Catherine's ear as she tucked the covers around Lindsey, who was curled up in a ball on Catherine's bed, asleep only 10 minutes after her initial plea to camp out in her mother's room. 

Catherine swatted his hand away, shaking her head vehemently, "What if she does wake up and walks in on us? Can't you wait until tomorrow?" 

"I suppose I could." Warrick said, the disappointment clear in his voice, although he did his best to hide it. "Shouldn't you have taken her to the doctor or something?" 

Catherine slipped into her nightgown, rolling her eyes and whispering back, "I'll probably take her in the morning, if she's not feeling better. It's probably just an ear infection, nothing to seriously worry over." 

"I can still stay the night, though, right?" Warrick asked, the prospect of leaving Catherine and going back to his home alone causing a wave of sadness. "Even if we aren't touching and we sleep in separate rooms?" 

Catherine rolled her eyes, "Don't be silly, you can sleep with us. As long as sleeping is the only thing you're doing." 

Warrick and Catherine climbed into bed, Warrick shutting off the lamp with a soft click and wrapping his arms around Catherine. Minutes later, they were both sound asleep. 

Nick strummed his fingers against the table of the interrogation room, a frown on his face. His brother-in-law was dead, thousands of miles from the home he shared with Nick's sister, Karen, in Kilgore, Texas. According to Brass, not only had Karen and Travis flown in to Vegas 3 weeks prior, which Nick had no knowledge of, Karen had flown home, without her husband, 4 days after arriving. 

To make matters worse, Nick's parents had flown in the day before Karen left, also coming as a surprise to the CSI, and had flown back with her. This could only mean two possibilities, as far as Nick was concerned. One, Karen and Travis got in a fight, she left him, and he turned up dead after she had left. This scenario had only several major flaws...first, why didn't anyone tell him they were coming to Vegas? On top of that, why hadn't anyone told him Travis was missing? Why had he not known anything about any of this? The second scenario was far more far-fetched, considering how gentle and sensitive his sister was, but more likely by the evident lack of communication. They came to Vegas, they fought, she killed him and called their parents to help cover it up. 

Sure, Nick didn't want to be involved either way, but why hadn't Karen called him for help in the first place? It wasn't like she didn't know where to find him, and she knew he would always bail her out of trouble, illegal or not, he had always protected her in the past. 

Something about this was suspicious, and for the life of him, he wished he could be involved on the case. It was killing him not to know anything, to be treated like any other person suspected for murder, or in his case, aiding in murder. They knew he couldn't have done it, the body was just under three weeks old, and at that time, he had been working a week long case with Grissom. They had spent less than 10 hours outside of the lab the entire week, and Brass knew Grissom was a solid enough alibi. 

He just wished they'd let him go, he wanted to contact his parents and see what the hell was going on. He fought another wave of fear and sadness as he thought of Karen, now a widow, possibly a murderer. He couldn't picture her with her hands cuffed behind her back, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit, just another number in the system. He needed to talk to his parents, he needed to know what they knew, to try to figure a way out of this mess. 

He looked up as Brass entered the room, dropping a file onto the table and sitting down in the chair across from Nick, "I know you really want to know what happened to your brother-in-law, and I know you guys as well as I would my family. I know that as soon as you walk out of this door, you're going to head straight home, if you even wait that long, to call your sister and see what she knows. I can't let you do that." 

"What!" Nick exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the table, "I have to know that she didn't kill him, Brass! I have to know what the hell is going on!" 

Brass held up his hand, "We're treating this as we would any other case. Look at the evidence I've shared with you, who does that lead you to suspect?" 

"Karen." Nick said, his voice flat, "But she wouldn't hurt a fly, much less kill someone! She loves Travis, that's the only reason she stayed with him after that scumbag assaulted her, she couldn't kill anybody, Brass!" 

"I know it's hard for you to picture your sister as a suspect," Brass said, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache begin to form, "Believe me, I know how difficult it is to see someone you love being suspected for a crime, especially one you feel they could never do. We're sending Greg and Sara to Kilgore and Dallas to talk with your parents and sister. All three are suspects, and the Sheriff doesn't feel like the situation calls for a subpoena to Las Vegas for questioning. While they are there, they will be working with the PD to reopen the abuse charges brought on by your sister earlier this year. After Sara and Greg speak to your family, you can call them and talk for a week if you'd like." 

"But until then I've got to keep my mouth shut." Nick said bitterly, followed by a string of curse words he rarely uttered, "They can't have anything to hide, it's not like they're a flight risk, my parents are law enforcement officials, for crying out loud!" 

Brass slid a paper in front of Nick, "I want you to sign this, saying you will not contact them until you get a call from Grissom or I telling you it is safe to do so. If you break this contract, and believe me, I'll know if you do, it's grounds for termination and charges for obstruction of justice." 

Grabbing the pen, Nick angrily scribbled his signature on the page, flinging it back at Brass. Not only was his family suspects for murder, _his_ Sara was going to visit them with _Greg_. He hadn't seen his family in years, he missed them like crazy, and now Sara and Greg would get to see them before he could. How could this situation get any worse? 

Sara threw a pair of slacks into her suitcase, scanning her list for any items she might have missed. In her doorway stood Greg, his eyes tired, but a bright smile plastered on his face, "Think of it as our first romantic getaway." 

"Put a sock in it, Greg." Sara warned, zipping her suitcase and pulling it from her bed to the floor, "It's not a romantic getaway, it's work. You know, this isn't the way I expected to meet Nick's parents?" 

Greg raised an eyebrow, "Oh, was it going to be on the night you two announced your engagement?" 

"What?" Sara asked, spinning around to look at him, "Our engagement? Are you on drugs? Have you been drinking _again_?" 

Greg crossed his arms over his chest, "Don't tell me you're not interested in Nick." Now that his hangover was gone and he was back in the swing of work, his sarcasm had come back full force. No longer was he afraid of running her off, they were stuck together, and he was going to let his feelings about Nick show. If she answered him, even if it made her angry, he'd at least know where she stood on the 'Nick issue'. 

"I'm not, I never have been. He's a friend, Greg, a friend. Just like Grissom, just like Warrick, just like--" Sara stopped, turning back to her suitcase and placing a lock on it, "Never mind. I'm not interested in him that way, we're just friends. Sure, we may flirt, but not in a serious way." 

"You were going to say just like me, weren't you?" Greg asked, his face showing the hurt he felt. "I thought we were going to try to be more, I know I wasn't that wasted when we talked about it." 

Sara shook her head, her eyes wide, and took a step towards him, causing him to step backwards, "No, Greg, not at all! I was going to say Catherine, but it didn't really fit the situation, so I stopped. You're more than just any old friend, Greg." 

"Okay." Greg replied, his hurt face betraying the coolness of his voice, "Are you ready to go? Our flight leaves in 2 hours, and it's always a fight at the airport." 

Giving Greg a tight hug and a quick peck on the cheek, which seemed to brighten his mood a bit, she carried her suitcase into the living room, making sure everything was turned off. "I'd hate to come back in three days to find my apartment burned down because I left something on." she explained at Greg's curious look. 

"Paranoid freak." Greg replied, slinging her bag over his shoulder and leading her out of the apartment. He decided to let the 'Nick issue' drop, things were going to be tense enough, investigating the family of one of their best friends, they didn't need personal tension between the two of them as well. If she said they were just friends, they had to be just friends. Besides, if they weren't, he wasn't sure he wanted to know anyway. 

They arrived in Texas late that afternoon, the sun still beaming down on the dry land, the humidity making the heat feel a dozen times worse than it already was. Sure, it was hot in Vegas, but not the same as it was in Texas. Sara's first thought was 'Can you actually smother to death, just standing outside?', quickly followed by 'No wonder Nicky had looked into going to school in Indiana'. 

They had been met at the airport by the Dallas PD, who was going to escort them to Dallas PD to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Stokes, then to the Kilgore PD, which would escort them to the Leblanc household. It was a fairly routine situation for cross-jurisdictions, at least, that's what Brass had told Sara and Greg, and as soon as they spoke with the Stokes and with Karen, got their DNA to compare with the trash bag they had found Travis in, and did a little poking through Karen's house (with the assistance of a search warrant that had already been issued), they'd be back on their way to Vegas, hopefully having something to close the case with. 

Normally, these situations didn't warrant a CSI, much less two, traveling halfway across the country, but since one of their own CSIs were involved, a few unspoken rules had been changed. Brass, for one, hadn't wanted some random Dallas police officer to handle questioning with only a fax of details to go off of, he wanted someone who had been to the crime scene, who had seen the body, who had processed the little evidence they had gathered so far to ensure the right person was captured. Well, that, and the crime lab working over Kilgore, where Karen Leblanc resided, had over 500 cases on backlog, and no one was in the mood to wait that long. Sure, the Vegas crime lab was a little backlogged, but nothing like this one, from what they had been told. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Stokes, I'm Greg Sanders and this is my partner, Sara Sidle. We're-" Greg said as soon as they entered the interrogation room in the Dallas PD. 

Nick's father spoke up, his voice tired, yet calm, "We know who you are. You work with our son. Has something happened to Nick? 

It was clear on his face that he knew this had nothing to do with his son. He glanced at his wife, who was now looking slightly panicked, although she hid it well. 

Sara opened her file, pulling out a picture of the remains of their son-in-law, "We found the remains of Travis Leblanc in a plastic trash bag, dumped in Lake Mead. We have reason to believe the two of you were in the Las Vegas area at the time of Travis's murder." 

"Oh my..." Mrs. Stokes said, covering her mouth with her hand and dropping her head to shield her eyes, presumably crying, although the two CSI's knew better. The more people you interview, the more you are able to tell acting and true shock, "Poor Travis...it's a shame to see something so awful happened to him. But, Ms. Sidle, I can assure you we had nothing to do with this. We were in town visiting Nick, it's hard to have our son so far away from him, and we were only able to stay a few days. We had no idea that Travis was anywhere but home." 

Sara's eyes narrowed, and she glanced at Greg, who cleared his throat, "We spoke to Nick, and he said he had no idea that you were in Las Vegas, he had not made contact with you or your husband that entire week. Phone records indicate he is telling the truth. Care to revise your last statement?" 

"What she meant to say is that we went to Las Vegas with the intention of surprising Nick, but we were unable to get in touch with him once we arrived. We stayed at Caesar's and enjoyed the tourist's spots for a few days and headed home once we were unable to reach Nick." Mr. Stokes supplied, a thin line of sweat breaking out over his forehead, "He's hard to contact, our boy, working so hard and keeping so busy." 

Sara bit her lip, knowing that they were hiding something, and trying to figure out the best way to get the answers she wanted. "Sir, why would you travel all the way to Las Vegas without warning your son of your visit? How often do you speak with Nick? With your other children?" 

"We normally speak to our Nicholas every Sunday evening, before he goes to work, we have a weekly routine with all of our children who have moved away from home. Nicky and Karen are always Sunday evenings, Melanie and Jessica are Saturday evenings, and the others usually phone in daily, since it isn't long distance for them to call home." Mrs. Stokes said confidently, watching as Greg nodded slightly to Sara, pointing out the phone records for Karen, Nick, and the Stokes'. 

Greg looked from Mr. Stokes, to Mrs. Stokes, and back, before asking, "If this is a routine that you've established and maintained with your children, why have you not answered his phone calls for the last 3 Sundays?" 

"We haven't been home." Mr. Stokes said quickly, "What exactly do you think we did? All you can prove is that we were in Las Vegas at the same time Travis was murdered. So were 3 million other people. We are through here. Honey, let's go home." He said, pulling the chair out for his wife to stand. 

Sara flung a picture to the side of the table where Mr. Stokes stood, his face red with fury, "We need a DNA sample to match some hair and blood we found inside of the trash bag from the scene. Do we need a court order?" 

"Yes, you do." He said cooly, leading his wife out of the room, throwing a card at Greg, "If you need to contact us any further, please go through my lawyer." 

Greg stared at Sara, his hands on his hips, "Sara, you know that it's one of Nick's female blood relatives, according to the DNA results. Why did you let them go?" 

"Because it could be Mrs. Stokes, Karen, or any one of the sisters. We need something solid, and it won't take long for a court order to go through. You talk with the detective, and I'll get the evidence we need to show Karen ready to go." Sara replied, rolling her eyes, "Stop acting like a spoiled little boy, Greg. I know what I'm doing. They're not a flight risk, but if they know we're on to them, which we are, they're liable to become one. " 

Greg leaned towards her, his lips against her ear, "You're so sexy with you're annoyed, did you know that?" 

"If you think annoyed is sexy, wait until you get me pissed off." Sara snapped, "We're working, Greg, remember? Hands off, minds clean until we get to the hotel." 

Detective League, who was working the case on the Dallas end, cleared his throat as he entered the room, "There's a bad storm moving in, we're going to call it quits for tonight and head to Kilgore in the morning. I've got an officer waiting outside who will take you to your hotel room. Is there anything else you need?" He flashed them a smile, friendly, yet professional, "I'm working on your court order for DNA, I was listening in the viewing room. Should have it by morning, if all works out like I planned. We don't fool around up here, no sir, we don't like loose ends." 

"Thank you." Greg replied, returning the kind smile, "We appreciate all of the help you've given us." As the detective walked out of the room, he leaned over to Sara and whispered, "Looks like we're going to be at the hotel a lot sooner than you anticipated, _honey_." 

Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, Sara forcefully smacked Greg against the back of his head, "Pervert." 

"You know you want me." 

"I also want a million dollars, but you don't see me rolling in the big bucks, do you?" 

Greg smiled, jabbing her playfully with his elbow, "In my dreams, you're rolling around naked on them." 

"Oh, Greg." Sara sighed, rolling her eyes. This was going to be a long night. 

_Still taking bribes, I like what I've been given..._


	11. Chapter Eleven End!

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own anyone except Jessica, she's all mine. Everyone else is already owned, and by someone a lot richer than I am. 

**Author's Notes:** We have come to the end. If there's interest, I am thinking about a making this a trilogy. If there's not, I think the ending (while it leaves a lot to wonder) will be sufficient enough. You decide. 

I loved and appreciated the response I got to this story, I thank every single one of you who read this little fanfic, and I doubly thank everyone who read **and** replied. All of my faithful reviewers, you know who you are, you guys rock! 

I wasn't planning on ending the story like this, but I'm too exhausted to remember the ending I came up with yesterday at work. I started my new job at the ME's office today...it was beyond creepy. Yesterday I helped process a car accident (just me and Marco, who has worked for the Sheriff's Office for nearly 11 years and didn't lift a single finger, unless it was to point out a mistake), and today I got to watch the autopsy of the three people that died in that accident. (Insert cold chill). I am considering today a success, I managed to make the entire 10 hour shift without throwing up (which I found out after shift that this is something people actually bet money on). And, I got to hold a human heart for the first time, which was actually pretty cool. 

Enough crazy ramblings, enjoy the last chapter! 

_Jenny_

**Eleven:**

"I'm not taking it off!" Sara protested, wrapping her arms around her bathrobe, a huge grin on her face. "Greg! Stop!" 

Greg intercepted her hands, tugging at the sash for her robe, "Come on, Sara! You're no fun!" 

"Stop it Greg!" She yelped, dodging out of his grasp again, sending them both tumbling onto the bed, faces red from laughter, "Look what you did!" 

Greg rolled off of her, raising his eyebrows, "So, now can I see?" 

"No! I don't know how you even talked me into this, you're insane." Sara laughed, tightening the sash on her robe, "Let go of me!" 

Greg quickly grabbed hold of her sash again, changing tactics and moving in to tickle her once she concentrated her protests on her waist. Soon, she was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face and she could scarcely breathe. "Let go of me!" She gasped, "Greg! I'm serious! Stop it!" 

"Fine, I'll let up, but only if you come down to the pool like you promised you would." Greg said with a sweet smile, 'You _promised_ Sara." 

Sara rolled her eyes, "Only so I could stop you from renting the porno on the TV." Seeing his determined look, she sighed, "Oh, alright, but you can't laugh at me when you see me in a bathing suit." 

"Why would I laugh if I've been trying to get you to show it to me for an hour now?" Greg asked with an exasperated sigh, "Honestly, Sara, you're too hard on yourself. You look hot in anything you wear." 

Sara shook her head, mirroring Greg's exasperation, "Let's just go, okay? It's getting late and we have a big day tomorrow." 

"Yeah, right. Sara Sidle worried about sleep. I'll believe it when pigs fly. What's your problem? Can't you swim?" 

"Of course I can swim, Greg!" Sara exclaimed, "But the idea of walking around in nothing but a bikini isn't really my idea of fun." 

Greg smirked, "Oh, right, your idea of fun is watching 'Forensic Files' and trying to second guess them." 

"I also enjoy pointing out their mistakes in how they handle cases." Sara said defensively, "And I watch other things, too." 

Greg laughed, "Yeah, 'Cops'. Seriously Sara, live a little, have some fun, cut loose. I'll even buy you a drink." 

"You're not allowed to be drinking, Mr. Whiskey." Sara reprimanded, "But I guess I could show you how much faster of a swimmer I am than you are." 

Greg sighed, shutting the door behind them as they exited their hotel room and walked towards the elevator, "Is everything always a competition with you?" Smiling, he nudged her with his elbow, "Never mind, I already know the answer to that." 

"Shut up." Sara replied, pushing him away, "You're so annoying." 

Greg shook his head, giving her a grin, "It's not annoying, it's charming. Although I wouldn't expect you to know the difference, you never let yourself be charmed." 

"Maybe I would if someone did a halfway decent job of actually being charming, and not obnoxious." Sara said with a smile, darting away as they exited the elevator, Greg hot on her heels. 

They reached the pool area and he finally grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her waist and undoing her sash to reveal a modest, burgundy two piece, the robe barely leaving her body before she stumbled backwards, still trying to escape his grasp, and sent them both into the pool. 

By the time they resurfaced, their lips were together, Sara's hands wrapped around Greg's back, while his roamed up and down her soft skin. 

Nick rested his head against the back of his couch, groaning in frustration. How could this have happened to him? To his family? Sure, he had pictured Travis dead, even wished it on the man a few times, but now that it had happened, it felt like someone had punched him in the gut, stealing his breath away. 

He was angry, more than anything, angry at Grissom, angry at Brass, angry at Sara, Greg, Catherine, everyone who was hellbent on pinning the murder on his family. He wasn't stupid, he knew Sara and Greg had gone to investigate Karen's abuse charge, to interrogate his parents, his siblings, anyone who may have known anything. 

What Nick just couldn't fathom is why they were harassing his family when the killer was on the loose, waiting for another victim. He came from good blood, his parents, his siblings, they were wonderful people, they'd never hurt anyone. Just the idea of them harming someone, much less killing them, was laughable at best. 

The shrill ringing of his telephone startled him, causing his head to pop up, a dull throb immediately working it's way through his left temple and eye. Grabbing the phone, he answered, "Stokes." 

"Nicky, it's Jessica." Nick was immediately concerned, it wasn't like his sister to call him, ever, and now she sounded like she was about to start sobbing. 

Nick drew in a deep breath, "What's wrong, Jessie? Did something happen?" 

"Um..." Her voice was unsure, and Nick had to suppress the urge to yell at her to spit out whatever she had to say. After a few seconds, she continued with a shaky voice, "Well, Nick, I just talked to Mom and Dad..." 

Nick sighed, "If it's about Travis's case, I'm not allowed to know any details." 

"It's not like that!" Jessica exclaimed, "Nick, I'm scared." 

Dread began to flood through Nick, and gritting his teeth, he asked, "Why are you scared? If Mom, Dad, or Karen didn't do it, they'll be fine." 

When she spoke, her voice cracked, and he could almost imagine her twirling her long, brown hair like she always had done when she was nervous, "Well, Momma, Daddy, and Karen didn't do it. I can be 100 percent sure of that." 

"How so?" Nick asked, the dread he was already feeling building up into a stabbing headache, "Jessie, please tell me you didn't--" 

Jessica started to sob, "Nicky, Karen's pregnant. He was going to kill her, I swear, he was going to kill her. She came to see you, she snuck out in the middle of the night, she knew you'd be able to protect her...but he found out and went after her. I couldn't let him hurt her, Nick, I couldn't! He had already done enough damage, and now, with a baby, I couldn't let him. It was an accident, I didn't mean to kill him. And after it happened, I didn't know what to do, so I called Daddy for help. I swear, it was an accident Nicky." 

Nick sat in silence, listening to his sister, only two years older than him, sob loudly, barely taking in breaths, her emotions fueled by guilt, sadness, and pain. He could feel the blood pounding in his ears, lightheaded all of a sudden, and all of a sudden, the shock disappeared and was replaced with red hot anger. 

"Jessica! How dare you!" Nick yelled. If the situation wouldn't have been so serious, he would have laughed as he remembered the many, many times he and his sisters, Jessica and Karen especially, since they were the closest in age, fought. On more than one occasion, their bickering and yelling could be heard by the neighbors, an acre away. "You killed a man! Not just a man, but a man that was part of our family!" 

"He was going to kill Karen, Nick, you have to believe me! He was going to kill her!" 

"Did it ever occur to you that the police would think Karen killed him? Did it even cross your tiny little mind that with past charges filed against him, and their trip to Vegas on the same flight, the same night, she would be the number one suspect? Did it _ever_ occur to you that if they did arrest her, Karen would have her baby in _jail_? Jessie, you were here, you could have come to me, even after the fact, I could have helped you prove it was self defense! But you drag Karen and our parents into this huge mess and cry to _me_ about it? Jessica, what the hell are you thinking?" 

Both fell silent again, Nick's headache turning rapidly into a migraine, Jessica's sobs unending. After a few seconds, Nick sighed, his anger drained, "Jessie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you, I'm just trying to process this." He paused, letting out another long sigh, "Jessie, you've got to confess...if Sara and Greg interview Karen tomorrow, they're going to dig into the abuse charges, they're going to tear apart Karen's house, they're going to know everything about every one of us before they're through, until they know who did it. Confess, for Karen's sake, she doesn't need this, she's been through enough." 

"I..I will." Jessica sobbed, "I'm sorry Nicky." 

Nick sighed, wanting more than anything to give her a hug and reassure her that turning herself in would be the right thing to do, "I know you are, Jess, but don't apologize to me, save that for Karen, for Mom and Dad. Where are you? Are you at home?" 

"I'm still in Vegas." Jessica said after pausing for a few moments, "Actually, I'm not too far from your house. Can I come by before I go to the police?" 

With a heavy voice, barely masking his unshed tears, he replied, "Of course, Jessie. I'll be waiting," 

As Jessica went to hang up the phone, her brother's soft voice filled the line, "It's going to be okay, I promise, I'll make it okay." 

Catherine tucked the covers around Lindsey, planting a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead, "Try to get some rest, okay sweetie? The medicine Dr. McMillan gave you will help your ear stop hurting soon." 

"Mommy?" Lindsey asked sleepily, "Is Warrick going to be my new Daddy?" 

Catherine looked at Lindsey with wide eyes, "No one, and I mean _no one_ can ever replace your dad, Lins. Maybe one day, Warrick and I will get married, but your daddy will always be your daddy. Do you like Warrick?" 

"I love him Mommy. You know why?" Lindsey asked through a yawn. 

Catherine stroked Lindsey's hair gently, "Why's that, baby?" 

"Because when started coming over, you stopped crying all the time." Lindsey replied, her eyes blinking closed for a few seconds, the medication kicking in and making her sleepy, "He made you happy again, and if he makes you happy, then I'm happy with him too." She smiled as she snuggled deeper into her blankets, "And he lets me order expensive things besides just a hamburger or chicken nuggets when we go out to dinner." 

Catherine smiled softly, "You can't judge someone on how much money they spend on you." She reprimanded, "How would you like it if we moved into Warrick's house with him?" 

Lindsey opened her eyes, yawning widely, "Only if I can get a puppy." 

"Now, we'll see about that. We don't even know if Warrick likes dogs." Catherine said gently, turning off the light, "Get some sleep." 

Catherine had made it to the door when Lindsey's soft voice said, "Warrick has to like dogs, because they're man's best friend and he's a man." 

"Good logic, that one." Warrick said once Catherine had shut the door behind her, "She must get that from you." 

Catherine wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his chest, "I love you." 

"I love you too. You and Lindsey, I'm glad you two are my family now." Warrick said, his voice husky as he let his fingers gently trail up her back, "Would you like to go celebrate?" 

Catherine moaned softly, her eyes closed, "Oh, definitely. I'll even lock the door." 

"Finally, no interruptions." Warrick sighed, leading her to her bedroom while taking off his shirt, "I've missed holding you in my arms." 

"I've missed being there." Catherine replied, sliding off her own shirt as they made their way to the bed, both of them collapsing down on it wearing only their undergarments. 

Warrick reached into the night stand, cursing softly, "Damn it, I'll be right back, we're out of condoms in the drawer." 

Catherine murmured her response, and Warrick set off to the bathroom cabinet to open a fresh box. By the time he came back, Catherine had rolled onto her side, her breathing even and deep, her eyes shut. Wrapping his arm around the sleeping woman, he snuggled close behind her. They'd have plenty of time for the other stuff, tonight they could just enjoy each other's warmth. 

Sara pulled away first, diverting her eyes from Greg and staring at the water, her cheeks flushed. "Uh, that was unexpected." 

"Definitely." Greg replied, nervousness evident in his own voice, despite how hard he tried to sound nonchalant. "That was...um...strange." 

"Definitely." Sara mimicked, swallowing hard, "Greg-" 

"Sara-" Greg began at the same time. 

Together, they chimed, "You go ahead--no, you go--no, you!--Stop!" 

"I like you, Greg." Sara said, biting her bottom lip and looking down, unable to meet his eye, "I really do. I've enjoyed spending time with you, I've enjoyed this trip, no matter how hard the case is. But I don't think this is the right time, not while we're in the middle of an investigation in a completely different state." 

Greg smiled softly, tilting her chin so her eyes met his, "That, and the kiss was totally weird." 

"Oh thank God, it's not just me." Sara replied, relief evident in her voice, "I think that was the worst kiss I've ever had...including the one in first grade where Ryan Richards was eating dirt before he kissed me." 

Greg squeezed Sara's hands, "I'll try not to take that too personally...it was bad though." 

"Not that we can't work on a relationship." Sara said quickly, her eyes wide, "Just no kissing right now, right?" 

Greg nodded, "Right. We'll work our way up there." He stopped talking, flashing her a bright smile, "Unless you want to start with sex and work our way back?" 

"Get a life, Greggo." Sara replied, shaking her head and swimming a few feet away from him, "Friends?" 

"Best friends." Greg said with a smile, splashing her as hard as he could. 

Sara sent a wave of water back at him, laughing, "Best friends who don't make out?" 

"For now!" Greg shouted over her laughter as he sent more water spraying in her direction. 

Sara used both arms to make a bigger area of water cascade over Greg, ducking under the water and popping back up behind him as she pushed him under. As he resurfaced, she smacked him against the back of the head, "Keep splashing me and you'll never get to touch these lips again." 

"Don't make threats you don't intend to keep." Greg chastised, sending a handful of water her way, "Catch me if you can!" 

"You're going down, Sanders!" She replied, taking off after him, kicking her feet to shower him with water. Once she caught him, she sent him under again, propelling herself down as well and sticking out her tongue to him underwater. 

As the sun set over Dallas, Texas, the only sounds heard at the hotel were splashes of water and incessant laughter and taunting. To anyone else, it would mean nothing, but to Greg and Sara, it meant the beginning of something, even if they weren't all too sure what 'something' was. 

_**The End!**_


End file.
